Delusions of Grandeur
by BarbosaTheGreenDucky
Summary: 100 Wicked drabbles, written by oboefae and DefiGraviti under our shared name. Rating may change.
1. Chapter 1: Beginnings

_A/N: Yes, we've started it. This is the beginning of our answer to the Wicked 100 challenge. This is written by oboefae._

_Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, do not own Wicked._

**Beginnings**

To Elphaba, Shiz meant possibility, her first step towards being loved by all of Oz.

To Galinda, Shiz meant leaving behind her provincial town for something more ozmopolitan, parties and friends and fashion.

To Fiyero, Shiz meant one more school to flunk out of, one more student body to shake up.

To Nessarose, Shiz meant a chance for independence, a chance to exist outside her family's shadow.

To Boq, Shiz meant his chance to better his homeland and his people, to save them from the drought.

To each of them, Shiz meant a new beginning, and none would get quite what they'd bargained for.

_Please Review!_


	2. Chapter 2: Family

**A/N: And here's my (me being DefiGraviti) first addition to the drabble challenge.**

**Disclaimer: Ha, me own Wicked? And _I'm _the one they say has delusions of grandeur…**

Elphaba never really had a family. Sure, there was Frex and Nessa and Melena, but the only thing that tied them to her was blood. All were resentful, disgusted, or ashamed by her, and that didn't seem like much of a family to Elphaba.

But then she looked around her. There was Shenshen at her left, laughing at one of Fiyero's jokes. Crope and Tibbett were half lying in each other's laps, losing their slyness in their wine. And Boq was telling a story to Avaric and Pfannee, one of who was laughing and one of whom looked utterly disgusted. Then there was Glinda, always at her right side.

Here she was Elphie. She did have a family.

**A/N: Review!!**


	3. Chapter 3: Diamond

_A/N: Hey, it's oboefae. This one's mine, and I'm posting it even though no one's reviewed yet ::hint::_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. It belongs to Stephen Schwartz, Winnie Holzman, and Gregory Maguire. I don't have any __money, so suing would be pointless._

**Diamond**

When he first presented the idea, she laughed, and his hurt look only caused her laughter to intensify. Didn't he see how absurd it was, to think of diamonds at a time like this? They were in the middle of the forest, running away, and he wanted to think about diamonds. Impossible.

The second time it was still absurd, and they both realized it, but it was also perfect, and they realized that, too. The second time, he told her he loved her, and that she was beautiful, and this time she let herself believe him. The second time, standing outside the clock, on the edge of their new lives, Fiyero offered a single diamond. And Elphaba said yes.

_Push the pretty purple/blue button!_


	4. Chapter 4: Birth

**A/N: This is written by DefiGraviti. I'm really proud of this one, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: Don't own it, don't claim to**

Elphaba remembers the day Nessa was born.

She was three and she didn't quite understand anything except that her mother had gotten excessively large over the past couple months. And that she kept eating those disgusting white flowers. But then one day her mother didn't call for her breakfast tray and Nanny didn't come out to fix Elphaba her morning cereal. So she sat alone at the kitchen table and watched her father run up and down the hallways with his face growing an unnatural shade of blue. And then she heard a cry.

She walked into her parent's bedroom just in time to see the doctor pulling a sheet over her mother's face. Then she saw her new baby sister's twisted legs, and she somehow knew that it was all her fault.

**A/N: Review!!!!!! Flames are welcome too.**


	5. Chapter 5: Blue

_A/N: This is by oboefae. they will get longer soon, I promise. Meanwhile, please review. Even flames are good. I can use them to bake cookies!_

_Disclaimer: Someday, when it isn't quite so late, I will come up with a really witty disclaimer that will impress you all. As for right now: I don't own Wicked._

**Blue**

Boq has always loved the color blue. While he was growing up, it was the color of Munchkinland, and since his father was the mayor he was surrounded by it, comforted by it.

Then it became the color of Shiz, of his new uniform. It became a symbol of his hope for the future of his homeland, his hope that maybe he could learn, discover something to ease the drought.

He found it again in Galinda's eyes, and it was then that he came to love it, to realize everything it meant to him.

In those seconds as he kissed her, by the lake, blue became his world.

_Review!_


	6. Chapter 6: Brown

**Disclaimer: You know, I'm a writer, you'd assume I'd be able to come up with some witty disclaimer. But you know what they say, never assume. So, yeah, I don't own it.**

**A/N: Well, I'm usually not much of a Gelphie person, but it just kind of came out this way. And oboefae liked it, so here ya go. And no, I'm not talking in third person (just for clarification, haha), this is written by DefiGraviti.**

Nobody would ever guess that Glinda the Good's favorite color was brown. After all, she paraded herself around in all shades of purples

and pinks and yellows and blues- never brown. She never even wore green because her advisors warned her that that color was much

too overdone in the Emerald City to be fashionably correct anymore. And they merely turned their noses up at all shades of browns and

blacks. But to Glinda, brown, even more than green, was the color of everything she had ever loved. The bronze of Fiyero's skin. The

brick of Shiz University.

The chocolate of Elphaba's eyes.

**A/N: Reviews make me happy! And I (we) refuse to update until I'm happy!**


	7. Chapter 7: Green

_A/N: This one's by oboefae. I thought we'd continue on the colors theme._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. I just borrow it._

**Green**

Fiyero had never really liked green before. That first time he'd met Elphaba, when Avaric had almost run into her, had been, well, unpleasant to say the least, and he'd added her verdigris to his list of reasons to stop thinking about her.

Because he _had_ been thinking about her. In fact, he was still thinking of her, but in a completely different light. He hadn't been able to get her off his mind, not after that first meeting, or at the Ozdust, or that day with the lion cub.

He tells her, when he meets her at the train, that he's been doing a lot of thinking; tries, in that phrase, to convey his true meaning: that he's been thinking about her, about his newfound love for green, and about everything else that she's made him change and question.

_Please review!_


	8. Chapter 8: Not Enough

**A/N: So here's a bit of angst for you. I'm sure you're recognizing a pattern by now, but this is by DefiGraviti. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Wicked. I DO however own the Wicked soundtrack, three Wicked shirts, Wicked's sheet music, all but one of those McDonald's Wizard of Oz dolls, and other random memoradelia that would take forever to list. **

She knew that Glinda loved her. Really, she did. They had been best friends and roommates for all their years at Shiz. They had stuck

by each other through everything: through the mocking of their fellow classmates, through the whole confusion over Fiyero's love, even

through the confrontation with the Wizard. There was no doubt in her mind that she was just as much Glinda's best friend as Glinda was

hers.

But as she flew off that night, leaving a teary Glinda behind and bringing with her an empty seat on her broom, suddenly that love just

wasn't enough anymore.

**A/N: Review and tell your friends! And I can use flames to make myself coffee in the morning!**


	9. Chapter 9: Independence

_A/N: This one's short. And by oboefae. I thought it was Nessa's turn for some drabble-y fun._

_Disclaimer: I don't even own minor characters. Darn it._

**Independence**

I never wanted to be Governess, never wanted to be a public figure. That was Elphaba's job, and she would have been good at it. But she flew away, and left me here. Not completely alone, maybe; there was Boq. But it's hard to have a conversation with someone who refuses to call you anything but "Madame Governor."

So what did I want? Independence. From this chair. From Elphaba, or rather from needing Elphaba. From the Munchkins I was supposed to serve. From expectations.

_Review!_


	10. Chapter 10: Too Much

**A/N: Well, here's a bit of angst for you. She's **_**not**_** supposed to be suicidal, by the way, just depressed. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: sigh Don't I wish...**

Sometimes Glinda really hated Elphaba.

She had escaped into death; a merciful end compared to what Glinda endured day and night. Did Elphaba have any idea what she was asking her to go through when she had asked her to never try to clear her name? She obviously thought it was for the better that nobody know the truth, but she was _wrong._ Because everyday Glinda had to suffer all of Oz talk about how wicked her best friend was and how much better the world was without her. It was anguish.

And sometimes it was just too much for Glinda to bear.

**A/N: You see that button? You know, the one that's at the bottom left hand corner of the page? Isn't it pretty? Go ahead, push it. You **_**know**_** you want to!**


	11. Chapter 11: Sunrise

_A/N: Wow, two days in a row. A celebration of the fact that the AP History test is over. This is oboefae, if you haven't noticed the pattern yet._

_Disclaimer: Because I'm completely braindead from the test, I'm going to claim that I own Wicked. If you sue, I'll plead temporary insanity, and it'll be true._

**Sunrise**

Elphaba was always up with the sun, and this day was no different. She loved to watch the sunrise. It gave her a reason to search the eastern skies, to imagine that she could see beyond the horizon.

She couldn't understand why she'd been dubbed the Wicked Witch of the West. Sure, she lived there, but it wasn't her home. Her entire life was in the East: Munchkinland, and the memory of her sister; Glinda, and nights spent talking for hours about nothing and everything; and Fiyero, at that very moment tolerating Dorothy and that stupid dog on his way to rescue her from the stone prison that Kiamo Ko was becoming.

Her heart was in the East.

_Press the pretty button!_


	12. Chapter 12: Birthday

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! I really have no excuse. And well, longer drabbles were requested, and all my pre-written stuff ran out. So here you go, officially 83 words longer than the 'official drabble standard'. Enjoy its fluffiness!**

**Disclaimer: Ha, you think I have that big of an imagination? Maybe in my dreams…**

"Elphaba! Elphie, wake up!"

Elphaba just answered with a muffled 'mmph' as she rolled over.

"_Elphaba_, come on, we're going to miss it!"

"Go 'way Glinda," she mumbled into her pillow, "It's the middle of the night."

"Do I look like Glinda to you?"

With that, Elphaba rolled over; her face screwed up in sleepy confusion. "F'yero?"

He grinned. "The one and only. By the way, I think you need to fix that lock on your door. Now come on, we're going to miss it!"

"Miss what? Classes don't start this early…"

Her eyes drooped closed as her sentence drifted off, but Fiyero would have none of it. He threw back her covers and gently dragged her out of bed. He ignored the curses she mumbled under her breath as he took her outside and led her to the blanket he had spread on top of the tallest hill on the east campus of Shiz.

All her muttering stopped as she saw the sun rise slowly over the horizon.

"Happy birthday," Fiyero whispered in her ear as he wrapped his arms around her.

**A/N: Review! They'll make me happy while I perform tonight!**


	13. Chapter 13: Breakfast

_A/N: Another long one. Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner will be like a trio. I know this is unresolved; that's the point._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Breakfast**

Fiyero drowsily plopped his tray onto the table. "Morning," he mumbled.

"Good morning, Romeo," Avaric responded.

Fiyero turned quickly to look at him. "What'd you just call me?"

"Romeo." Fiyero's confused look couldn't put off Avaric. "Oh, come off it. Cut the innocent act. I know where you were last night." Avaric's eyes glinted mischievously, and Fiyero could feel his ears turning red.

"Avaric, I haven't the slightest idea what you're talking about." At that moment, Crope and Tibbett arrived at the table.

"What's he talking about?" Crope asked.

"Nothing," Fiyero said. But at the same time, Avaric had begun. "He left the party early last night. And," he paused for dramatic effect, "so did Greenie."

"Don't call her that!" Fiyero said.

"My," Avaric said, "aren't we touchy. So, what'd you do? How far'd you go? Is she green _everywhere?_"

But Fiyero didn't respond, even to come up with a line to protect her. Instead, his gaze had locked with hers, until she spun on her heel and ran out the door.

_Aww, poor Elphie! DefiGraviti will post Lunch on Saturday (I think; it may be sooner.) Please Review!_


	14. Chapter 14: Lunch

**A/N: Okay, I know you wanted me to fix it but…you're going to hate me. But still stay tuned for Dinner! oboefae is bursting to post it.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it and all that jazz.**

"Come on Elphie, he's not even in here!"

"Are you sure? Check over by Avaric, he may be spreading _more_ delightful details about last night with him!"

Glinda repressed the urge to roll her eyes. "He's not here, I promise."

"Fine," Elphaba huffed as she stomped into the cafeteria. "He's probably out in the woods giving them all a play-by-play-"

"You were just out there, did you see Fiyero or Avaric?"

"It's a big forest."

Glinda didn't succeed in suppressing the urge this time.

She finally got Elphaba to get a sandwich from the vending machine and to sit down, but more time was spent ranting about Fiyero than eating. But Glinda couldn't accuse her of hypocrisy, she was left to guess about what had _actually _happened last night. But Glinda was a good guesser.

"And then I heard Avaric ask 'is she green everywhere' which _obviously_ shows that Fiyero told him-" Elphaba suddenly fell silent.

Glinda followed Elphaba's gaze over to Fiyero standing in the doorway. Elphaba immediately jumped up from her chair and stormed out the door. Fiyero shot a helpless gaze at Glinda.

"I'll go fish her out of the woods again," Glinda sighed.

**A/N: Now come on y'all, our review numbers have been slacking! That makes me very sad…**


	15. Chapter 15: Dinner

_A/N: I am a terrible drabble writer. 245 words is not a drabble. Other than that though, I think you'll be pleased. Defigraviti was right, I was bursting to post this. Thanks for all the reviews!_

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, would I spend my spare time writing fanfiction? Didn't think so._

**Dinner**

By dinner, Glinda knew the whole story. Nothing had happened, at least, nothing as advanced as Avaric had insinuated. But to Elphaba, even the goodnight kiss by her door late last night after an evening spent discussing their homes and families and hopes and dreams was a big deal. She couldn't figure out why Fiyero would lie, why he'd blow it so out of proportion.

"Maybe that's not really what you saw," Glinda insisted. "You have to hear his side of things." And that was exactly what she was forcing Elphaba to do.

Elphaba tried to bolt as soon as she saw Fiyero sitting at their table, but Glinda's grip on her elbow was too tight. "Good evening, Miss Elphaba," Fiyero said. Glinda suppressed a groan. Were they really back to honorifics? That was not a good sign. Elphaba tried to respond, but he interrupted her.

"I'd like to try to explain myself, if you'll let me." This time, Elphaba didn't say anything, just sat down. So he continued. "I'm sorry. I don't know what you heard or saw, but I swear I didn't tell them anything." Glinda had conveniently disappeared, so Fiyero scooted his chair around the table and took Elphaba's hand. "I want you to know that I'd never do anything to hurt you. I love you."

Elphaba heard the sincerity in his voice and saw it in his eyes, but still she didn't speak. Instead, she leaned towards him. And they kissed.

_Aww, see? Happy again. Reviews make my day!_


	16. Chapter 16: Friends

**A/N: Okay, time for a fluffy friendship piece! Don't you love it?**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. Wow, I'm really uncreative today.**

"Elphie, come on! We're going to be late!"

"Go one without me, you don't need to be late just because my stupid sister was being particularly needy this morning," Elphaba grumbled as she shoved her feet in her boots.

"No, silly. Why would I do that?" Galinda asked, honestly confused. "I wouldn't leave you behind. What kind of friend would I be then?"

And as Elphaba grabbed her books and ran out of the door with Galinda, she couldn't help smiling to herself.

Apparently friends were stronger than blood. And she couldn't believe how lucky she was.

**A/N: Review!!!**


	17. Chapter 17: Snow

_A/N: So defigraviti would like me to add that she had absolutely nothing to do with this one. She completely washes her hands of the blatant Gelphie-ness. That was totally me. Sorry, there was just so much fluffy Fiyeraba, and this is what popped into my head._

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, I would have been way more creative than using a stupid RENT reference._

**Snow**

Elphaba loved snow. It reminded her of when they'd lived in Munchkinland, when she was really little and Melena was still alive. It felt safe, and warm somehow. So maybe it gave her confidence, made her brave. Whatever the reason, it allowed her to grab Glinda's hand and pull her into the shadows.

"Elphaba, not here; not where everyone can see!"

But she didn't care. The snow made anything feel possible. Even this. This secret they'd kept to themselves, locked in their room. Still, she could only whisper, her breath hot against Glinda's ear.

"Kiss me, it's beginning to snow."

_A/N: Ah, exactly 100 words. I have another friend, LunaRiven, who's writing 100 HP drabbles. She keeps bugging me to use exactly that, so this one was pretty much just to make her stop. Please review, since we didn't get any last time!_


	18. Chapter 18: Years

**A/N: So I'm going to apologize to Luna right now, this is 175 words. But I'll make the next exactly 100 words, I promise! And this is slightly AU, as oboefae and I couldn't figure out any way to make it fit the minute details of the musical or book, but they were extremely minute details.**

**Disclaimer: Yes, I am definitely Steven Schwartz and Gregory Maguire all embodied into a young female person. Right…**

Time was cruel.

As Glinda stood in line for her graduation, sandwiched between two people she had never bothered to talk to, she couldn't help but wallow in how cruel the years had really been. Her tears fell even harder as they passed the 'T' names, painfully feeling the two precious holes. Nessa's name was called and she clapped harderthan anyone, but she never saw the girl in the wheelchair receive her diploma. Her own name was called and she tried to smile through her pain, but she could barely see well enough to make it up the stairs. And she only glared as she passed Morrible's awful smiling face. The years really had been cruel. She made two of the best friends in the world, only to have them cruelly ripped away. She gained two reasons to live, only to have them nearly killed. She gained two amazing years, only to have them followed by one agonizing one.

She still didn't understand how so much could happen in just three short years.

**A/N: So this is a slightly desperate plea for reviews. We haven't had any for two chapters and it's highly disheartening! And yes, this was definitely written after oboefae and I played Pomp and Circumstance about twenty times more than is healthy and I was watching the seniors receive their diplomas. So that's why it's so angsty. **


	19. Chapter 19: Star

_A/N: Thanks muchly for the reviews. I see that defigraviti's plea worked._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Star**

"Starlight, star bright

First star I see tonight

I wish I may, I wish I might

Have the wish I wish tonight."

Glinda stopped. What could she possibly wish for? She was Glinda the Good, for Oz's sake! She had poofy pink dresses, an enormous pink bedroom, and an adoring public. What more could she want?

_Elphaba_, her heart said.

_But Elphaba is dead_, her brain said. The two were often in conflict. _What a waste of a wish._

_But that's what wishes are for! _Her heart again. _To ask for the impossible._

So Glinda the Good wasted her wish.

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_Yay, exactly 100 words again. Well, if starlight is one word... Please review!_


	20. Chapter 20: Work

**A/N: So this is a drabble for the celebration of exams being **_**over**_**!!!!!!! Finally!!!!!! Sorry, I've had a rough year academically, and I'm ecstatic that I'm finally done with my five honors classes! Anyway, this was written while I was supposed to be studying for finals, enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I'm almost brain dead enough to claim ownership, but not quite.**

Fiyero cursed Elphaba for teaching him to work.

"I'm Fiyero _Tiggular_," he told himself repeatedly, "I can blow off exams just like I always do, right?"

"But he couldn't. Even in the little time they had spent together, Elphaba had rubbed off on him. Her work ethic inspired _him_ to try harder. Her high expectations for herself turned into high expectations for _him_. And he had gradually grown to care more about pleasing _her_ than Galinda.

So he sat cursing her good influence as he studied in the library, because his new work ethic was making him miss a party.

**A/N: So Luna, are you happy? Exactly 100 words, you can count them! Oh, and speaking of Luna, go to her page Luna Riven, she's awesome and braver than oboefae and I and is taking on the HP100 challenge all on her own! Go support her braverism!**


	21. Chapter 21: Bugs

_A/N: Some thoughts from the cat. I thought he might be slightly jealous of Fiyero. This is bookverse._

**Bugs**

I can't stand the man with the blue diamonds. First, he came in and swept the green woman off her feet. She's supposed to spend her time playing with me, not flirting with him. And, worse, he's catching the bugs. That's my job! I'm supposed to chase them around the room, and catch them, and she's supposed to praise me!

But no! Instead, he finds them, and catches them, and releases them (releases them! I mean, really, you're supposed to eat them!). The she thanks him, and believe me, he gets much more than a scratch behind the ears. And the cat is forgotten.

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_A/N: Please review! Oh, and if you're in band, check out my new band drabbles, "Thoughts on Marching Band," and review those, too!_


	22. Chapter 22: Sixth Sense

**A/N: Sorry Luna, but my rendezvous with exactly 100 words is temporarily terminated, as this drabble is nowhere **_**near**_** 100 words. But enjoy anyway!**

**Disclaimer: I do not and never will own Wicked. Drat.**

Elphaba seemed to have a sixth sense when it came to those she loved.

There wasn't anything magical about it. It's just that it took so long to gain her trust and her love that once you had it, you _really_ had it. And whenever anyone forged that kind of relationship with her, they forged something much deeper.

Elphaba could always tell if something was bothering Glinda. Her perpetually cheery exterior may have fooled most people, but Elphaba wasn't most people. But they ever even had to talk about it because for them, it just took one look.

There were only three people she had that connection with, and she never really talked to anyone about t. Which is why Fiyero was left distraught and confused when Elphaba ran off to rescue her sister from a falling house that only she could see.

**A/N: Save me from my summertime boredom and review!!**


	23. Chapter 23: Yellow

_A/N: Hello! I'm going to be gone all next week, so after defigraviti updates again there won't be any more till Sunday at least. For this one, I pictured Kerry Ellis, but I guess any blue eyed Elphaba would work. Enjoy!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Yellow**

Fiyero was so sick of yellow. He was yellow. The dog was yellow. The stupid road was yellow.

He'd been on the infernal brick road for days. He no longer recognized any other colors, not Dorothy's blue dress, or the green of the fields, not even the ruby shoes registered in his mind. He was sure that when they finally reached the Emerald City, he would just wonder why it wasn't yellow.

Only at night, while the others were asleep and she appeared, did he think of anything else. Her green skin and blue eyes reminded him of a time and place outside yellow, and his spirits lifted.

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_Please review!_


	24. Chapter 24: Choices

**A/N: Sorry for the long time between updates, but oboefae is out of town until next weekend, so I figured I should divide up the time evenly. But the next time either one of us updates, our giddiness will probably be palpable even through our writing, because WE'RE SEEING WICKED THIS WEEK!!! I'm seeing it on Thursday and oboefae on Saturday. And we couldn't be happier!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own it, but on Thursday I'll finally be able to say that I've seen it!**

She couldn't believe Shenshen and Pfannee had done that. Sure, they joked about Miss Elphaba all the time and they even schemed about all the awful things they could do to her to her. But they had never _done_ any of those things! And even in their most outrageous plots they had never planned anything so _mean_. How could they be so _cruel_?

_And they didn't even consult me!_ Galinda seethed to herself. It was a difficult balance: feeling bad for Elphaba and nursing her own hurt feelings. Because she was suddenly aware that she would never fit in with Shenshen and Pfannee because she wasn't _like_ them. And this brought the startling realization that she didn't have a single true friend in the world.

So maybe that's why she suddenly got up from her bed and walked determinedly to where Elphaba was sitting by the lake. And maybe that's why she made the choice that changed her life forever.

She apologized.

**A/N: Relieve me from my summertime boredom and review!**


	25. Chapter 25: Insomnia

_A/N: I'm back! Ok, so this one isn't from our original group of 100 prompts, it's from a different set that we found. Sorry if that bothers anyone. I tried to find one of the original prompts to use for this, but none of them really worked. Oh, and I saw Wicked on Saturday! It was amazing._

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, I wouldn't be writing these, and I certainly wouldn't be so excited about getting to see it, now, would I?_

**Insomnia**

Elphaba couldn't sleep. She hadn't been able to for a long time, weeks, even. She wanted to see Dorothy's odd group the moment they could be seen. The waiting was hell. Sometimes she'd drift off and then wake with a start from horrible dreams about that fateful Lurlinemas night or turning her back on Glinda at the governor's mansion. It seemed that her life was full of regrets, both those terrible nights and so many others. So she had no peaceful moments, no peace at all, really, until the water rushed over her and the darkness washed everything away forever.

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_Please review!_


	26. Chapter 26: Strangers

**A/N: So this is one of my more obscure ones with different characters than are usually used, but it's one of my favorites and oboefae loved it too. And I saw Wicked this past Thursday, and it was **_**amazing**_**. Even better than I had ever dreamed it would be. And this is what was running through my head at the very end, so enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I'm not **_**nearly**_** brilliant enough to even come **_**close**_** to creating such a fabulous story as Wicked. Drat.**

They were complete strangers, really. They had only ever met each other once, several years ago. And even then it wasn't so much that they had been introduced to each other as they had merely been in the same room together. But even then, it was Elphaba who tied them together.

And now, as they both stood looking in disbelief at the hat and the bottle, the only things left of their beloved Elphaba, they knew they had to stick together.

Chistery felt as if he knew Glinda from all Elphaba had talked about her and he knew how much Glinda had meant to his liberator.

Glinda knew Chistery had been with Elphaba the most in her last couple years and saw him as a representation of everything her best friend had believed in.

So together, they would make Elphaba's legacy live on, a true example of humans and Animals working together as equals.

**A/N: Reviews make me smile. I like to smile. That was a hint just in case you didn't catch it.**


	27. Chapter 27: Letters

_A/N: Hello everyone! I leave for NYC tomorrow, so I wanted to post before I left. Not much else to say..._

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, then I'd be seeing it in NYC next week and not Hairspray._

**Letters**

Elphaba wrote to Glinda every day after the incident with the Wizard. She couldn't send them, obviously, but it was nice to be able to talk things out with someone, even if they didn't talk back.

Sometimes she'd reminisce about their days at Shiz, or she'd tell Glinda more about her childhood in Munchkinland, but mostly she'd just talk about her day, about the Animals she was helping and the people she'd met. She never gave details, in case the letters were found, although she always kept them close to her.

Which was why, when she first opened the Grimmerie, Glinda was surprised to find more than spells between its covers.

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_Please review!_


	28. Chapter 28: Halloween

A/N: So…not much to say. Strangely enough, I'm getting bored with summer. So here's a taste of autumn! Ah, autumn, the band season. Only one more month till band camp! Haha, I'll stop babbling now. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer: Ha, if I owned Wicked I'd probably be a lot less bored right now.**

There were a lot of things that Oscar Diggs missed about his homeland. He missed the notable lack of magic, which just served to complicate his life in Oz. He missed the also notable lack of Animals. They _also_ made his life more complicated. But he also missed his family. Oh heck, he missed _people_! Ever since he had become the Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the only person he ever saw was Morrible. And she was never terribly pleasant.

But most of all he missed Halloween. He missed all the small children dressed up as witches and monkeys. He missed he paternal feelings that filled his heart as he would fill their bags with candy.

Now all he had was the real thing. _Real_ witches and _real _Monkeys. And he was beginning to realize that the real ones were not nearly so cute as the fake ones.

And they wouldn't accept his candy either.

**A/N: Review!**


	29. Chapter 29: A Thousand Flowers

_A/N: Hello! I'm not home, so DefiGraviti is posting this. She'll be posting the next one, too. Hope you like them!_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**A Thousand Flowers**

No one laid any lilies on Elphaba's grave. Glinda took it upon herself to put fresh roses in the tower whenever she could sneak away to Kiamo Ko, which was less often than she would have liked, but, alas, there were no lilies.

Not that Elphaba minded. She was touched that Glinda bothered to go back to the tower at all, year after year. She figured Glinda must've left thousands of flowers since her "death."

So when Glinda died, Elphaba repaid her. She snuck into the small Gillikin cemetery and magicked a thousand flowers around the grave of Oz's most popular ruler.

_Reviews make me happy, even hundreds of miles from my computer._


	30. Chapter 30: Passing

**A/N: This is another that was passing (ha, pun intended) through my head after I saw Wicked. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. If I wasn't completely worn out from chasing a two year old and a three year old around all day, going to a voice lesson, and having a driving lesson, on top of only four hours of sleep (I couldn't tear myself away from the Wicked youtube…), then I would come up with something wittier. But as of right now I'm terribly uncreative.**

He didn't blame her. She had done the best she could and she had saved his life. But that didn't change the fact that he was hanging on a pole in the middle of a cornfield on a rather deserted part of the Yellow Brick Road by his now straw-filled arms. And he had no idea how he was supposed to get down and get back to Elphie.

But then he saw a little girl passing him and knew that if he didn't think of something quickly, he could e stranded up there until the next person came, which could very well be months. So he said the first thing that came to mind to the question the girl had asked her dog (or was it a Dog?)

"That way is a very nice way…"

**A/N: Review! Give oboefae something nice to come home to on Thursday!**


	31. Chapter 31: Something Borrowed

_A/N: I'm still not home. I don't know where I am, since I don't know when DefiGraviti will post this, but I'm certainly not home._

_Disclaimer: I still don't own Wicked._

**Something Borrowed**

_Something old,_

_Something new,_

_Something borrowed,_

_Something blue_

Elphaba wasn't usually one for superstitions, but in some cases she felt things were better safe than sorry. And so, on her wedding day, she laid out three things. Something old: a necklace that had been her mother's. Something new: her dress. She hadn't put it on yet due to the fact that her usual clumsiness was only enhanced by the nervousness she was experiencing, and she didn't want to get anything on the clean white fabric. Something blue: well, she had Fiyero's eyes, and that was all the blue she felt she'd ever need. But the rhyme was incomplete; she needed something borrowed. That was the hardest, since Elphaba had never been one to ask other people for things. Her eyes scanned the room until they fell on a single pink flower barrette, and Galinda's voice echoed in her head: _Pink goes good with green._

_Please review!_


	32. Chapter 32: Teammates

**A/N: Sorry for the delay between updates, both of us have had a bit of a dry spell lately. Writers' block sucks, just in case you were wondering. Haha, anyway, this isn't my greatest work, but it'll do.**

**Disclaimer: I **_**do**_** own Wicked! I'm **_**definitely**_** Steven Schwartz! And Winnie Holzman and Gregory Maguire! All three of them! …oh who am I kidding. Please, don't shoot!**

Glinda always felt that she and Elphaba were unequal. She regarded Elphaba as being superior to her. Even in the _beginning_ Elphaba threatened her. Glinda couldn't believe that Elphaba didn't see how those insults were a cover for her own insecurity.

No matter what, Elphaba was always smarter. More confident. More talented. _She _was going to be the one to succeed, and Glinda was jealous.

That is, until that night when Elphaba pleaded for her join her as she fled. Elphaba _needed_ her and they were finally equal in their friendship. They were teammates.

And she threw it all away.

**A/N: Review! And I just posted the first full-length fic that I've written in awhile, so go to my site and R&R that one too!**


	33. Chapter 33: An Empty Room

_A/N: Hello there! Sorry this has taken so long; I was sort of waylaid by Harry Potter, and a lack of access to my computer._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**An Empty Room**

Glinda avoided going to her room for as long as possible on the day she got back from the Emerald City. She met Fiyero at the train and convinced him to go to lunch, where she explained everything that had happened the day before. It took a long time, and she knew that afterwards she'd have to go do the same for Nessa, hard as it was.

But neither encounter turned out to be as hard as the final step of her day, when Glinda opened the door to their room that night and was finally confronted with the fact that it was really, truly, empty.

Elphaba was gone.

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_Please review!_


	34. Chapter 34: Home

**A/N: Sorry this has taken so long! While oboefae has been drabbling up a storm, I've been dealing with a serious case of writers' block. I'm still working past it, but I at least managed to crank this one out. And I'm sorry for the angst kick we've been on as of late! We didn't even realize we were on it until phantomphan1992 mentioned it, so thank you. We'll try to do better. We really aren't angsty in person, I promise!**

**Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Wicked. The characters are even refusing to play for me.**

Normal students were excited for the summer holidays. They hurried out of class and packed up their dorms so quickly that Elphaba's head spun. Even her farewells with Galinda were rushed as she was swept back to Gillikin.

But Elphaba wasn't normal. The only claim to normality that she had was the fact that she anticipated returning home just as much as the other students. She just had a different idea of what home _was_.

Because when the big day came, she couldn't stop smiling. Her stomach felt fluttery as she grabbed her bag and stepped out of the carriage. She took one sweeping glance at the buzzing grounds and spotted Galinda running to her with Fiyero in tow. Elphaba grinned harder.

She was home.

**A/N: So I realize that this is a little Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets- esque with an emphasis on his first conversation with Dobby, but hey, I'm just now getting down off of my Harry-high from the seventh book. Hope you enjoyed it enough to review!!**


	35. Chapter 35: Spade

_A/N: It's possible that I don't give Dorothy enough credit. But I don't like her. I never have. Ever. So there's this. Also, band camp starts tomorrow, which means that updates will be sporadic, since both defigraviti and I will be at band for very long periods of time every day. Yay band!_

_Disclaimer: Dorothy is L. Frank Baum's. I wouldn't claim her if I could._

**Spade**

Boq couldn't believe that that Dorothy girl was so _dense_. He spent the entire evening trying to explain the political implications of Her Eminence's demise, and she just wouldn't get it. She couldn't see anything past the fact that the Witch was dead. And that blasted dog Dodo was worse, constantly barking whenever anyone got close to it or to Dorothy. It was enough to drive a Munchkin to drink.

But Boq found that he couldn't quite express the extent of the girl's idiocy until he found this note, which said it all:

_Dear Mr. Munchkin,_

_Please forgive Toto's grouchiness. He was recently spade._

_Dorothy_

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Please review! We're going to break 100! 


	36. Chapter 36: Rumours

**A/N: Sorry for the delay! We'll try to keep updating on a relatively regular basis, but 9-5 days of band camp start tomorrow and then next week we have twelve-hour days, so updates will be sporadic. But we're not going anywhere, I promise! So enjoy, I had fun with this one.**

"Hey, did you hear what happened to Galinda?"

"No! Is she okay?"

"We don't think so. We think that the asparagus cast some sort of spell on her."

"That's terrible! What kind of spell?"

"We don't know. But whatever it was, it's making her do some insane things. Last week, she was actually seen _dancing_ with that vegetable!"

"No!"

"Yep. At the _Ozdust_! And yesterday, she was caught _sitting_ with it! In _class_!"

"Galinda went to _class_?!"

Galinda finally got fed up and tore out of her hiding spot behind a tree.

"Would you just _stop_ it! Her name is _Elphaba_, she's not a _vegetable_, and I'm not under any _spell._ So would you go get lives and leave me and my friend _alone_?"

The two girls looked at each other knowingly as Galinda angrily sped off.

"Uh-huh, definitely a spell."

**A/N: Review! Give oboefae and I something nice to come home to after an eight-hour day in the 100-degree weather! And I shamelessly plug (again); I just posted a new fic on my page, go visit it!**


	37. Chapter 37: Breaking Rules

_A/N: This one's booksical, I guess. Hope you like it. The next update should come sometime next weekend, when band camp will finally be over._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Breaking Rules**

Even though it is never actually discussed, there is one rule that every teenage girl knows: Never, ever, under any circumstances, develop a crush on your best friend's boyfriend.

Really. No matter how sweet or attractive he may be. Just don't do it.

But, well, Elphaba had never been one for rules. She was, after all, an anarchist. In her experience, rules were made to keep the people in the dark, or to oppress them somehow.

So was it really a bad thing that, upon seeing Fiyero at the Ozdust, she threw that rule out the proverbial window?

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_

_Please review!_


	38. Chapter 38: Broken

**A/N: So you can thank oboefae for this one being posted today, considering the fact that she's sitting on my bed at this very moment and was practically breathing down my neck as I wrote it. She then proceeded to kick me out of my chair and beta it, only to put me back in my chair and order me to post. So I hope you enjoy it!**

**Band camp is over by the way, and it went amazingly. Even though it was literally about 140 degrees out on the black top for most of the time. And oboefae is still dancing to the fact that she never has to go back. ::turns and glares at oboefae::**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Wicked, but thanks for checking.**

"That's right, just follow that one road the whole time!" Glinda shouted to Dorothy and her endlessly yapping dog as they disappeared around a bend in the yellow brick road. She slowly turned around, barely holding back her tears. "Oh, I hope they don't get lost," she said to herself quietly, "I'm so bad at giving directions." 

Glinda, finding herself at last alone, stumbled over to Nessa's shriveled feet and knelt. She buried her face in her hands and let the tears finally fall as memories slid through her mind. Memories of her and Elphaba, happily walking arm in arm as they walked through Shiz. Memories of Fiyero, gallantly opening the door for them both. Memories of her entire circle; her unbreakable, safe circle.

Which had been shattered into a million pieces.

**A/N: Review! And thank you to grey-eyed-goddess who nominated us for the Wicked awards!**


	39. Chapter 39: Kings and Queens

_A/N: What can I say? I heart Crope and Tibbet; they were probably the only characters in the book whom I really really liked the whole way through. And I could so see them gossiping about Fiyero._

_Disclaimer: I wish I owned Wicked._

**Kings and Queens**

He was… foreign. He was exotic. He had a sexy accent. He was, oh, sweet Oz, he was attractive. Those blue diamonds begged to be touched, to be traced, to be connected like dots. And he was hot. Let's not forget that.

But. He was undoubtedly straight. He was _married,_ for Lurline's sake; he had been for years! He was completely unattainable. He was just a beautiful dream.

And yet, he was a prince. He would, some day, be king. And that was what kept Crope and Tibbet talking, what let them continue their fantasies.

After all, every queen needs a king.

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_Please review!_


	40. Chapter 40: School

**A/N: Sorry there's been such a delay for this drabble. School started Monday and I've been too busy acclimating myself to write. And oboefae's been breathing down my neck about it too. But this year is just **_**weird**_**! I'm not used to being able to sleep this much! And I haven't had a study hall since **_**junior high**_**! Sorry, I'll stop rambling now. And here is the long awaited drabble. Our feature presentation.**

She dumped her school supplies on her bed for the fifth time that day. All of her books had already come in the mail and all of her binders had been organized and reorganized about a dozen times each.

"New, sharp pencils," she whispered to herself as she repacked them.

"Bright, shiny folders."

"Unscratched ruler."

"Unused erasers."

"Brand new books."  
She hugged her repacked bag to her chest and leaned back in her wheelchair as images of friends and bright red A's flitted through her mind. Maybe things would be different at Shiz.

Nessa smiled. Yes, things would be different this time. She would finally find a place where she could belong.

**A/N: And just to further prove what nerds we are, this is based on a long conversation oboefae and I had about the glorious-ness of new school supplies. Review! Maybe it'll make me write faster.**


	41. Chapter 41: Phantom Pain

_A/N: We're trying to get back to a somewhat regular schedule, trying being the operative word. Anyway, I loved this scene, but they didn't use it last time I saw Wicked, so perhaps it's been taken out? Fiyero's double meaning was perfect._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Phantom Pain**

_You can't miss what you never had._ Glinda tried to tell herself that over and over again in the days after Fiyero left.

She'd never had Fiyero, not really. He had always been Elphaba's. And, she came to realize, she'd known that all along, ever since the day they'd taken Dr. Dillamond away. _No,_ she thought, _even before that..._

_Silence fell upon the crowded ballroom when a green figure appeared at the top of the steps. "Who is that?" Fiyero had asked._

_"My roommate," Galinda had replied, "Please, don't stare."_

_She'd thought he was joking when he answered back, "It's kind of hard not to."_

No, she'd never had him.

So why did his absence hurt so much?

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_Please review!_


	42. Chapter 42: Sick

**A/N: So, this is the result of me and two of our (oboefae and I, I promise, I'm not schizophrenic) friends talking with our noses plugged for about five minutes at an away football game with the pep band. I hope that explains it all. **

"Galinda, could you pazz be da tizzues?" Elphaba mumbles through her pillow.

"Whad?"

"Pazz da tizzues!"

"Whad? Oh, here."

They land with a dull thud on Elphaba's back.

"Danks."

Elphaba slowly musters up her energy and forces herself out of her pillow.

"Dhey're _pink_," she says a moment later.

"_Deal_ wid it."

Both girls resume their germ-y affair with their pillows.

A knock comes at the door.

"Go abay," Galinda grumbles. Fiyero walks in anyway.

"Wow, you both look terrible," he says jovially.

Galinda and Elphaba turn to look at each other with slitted bloodshot eyes. They chorus, "_Go abay_!"

**A/N: Review! If we get a lot of them it may motivate us to update more often! But, considering that we have officially signed away our lives to our band directors until mid-November, updates are still going to be slightly sporadic.**


	43. Chapter 43: Lost in the Forest

_A/n: Hey everyone. Short AN tonight, since I still have homework to do. Actually yeah, that's it._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Lost in the Forest**

As a girl, Elphaba had loved to wander the woods around the governor's mansion. There, away from her needy little sister, she could run and climb trees and just be alone. There, away from her father's disapproving looks, she could be his heir; she could be the future governor. There, away from the jeering faces of her classmates, she could read in peace, or pretend, for a few moments, to be normal. It was like her own private sanctuary. The leaves were perfect camouflage.

But this time, she didn't need to hide, and she couldn't have if she'd wanted to. Fiyero looked past the green, and wouldn't let her.

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_Please review, and remember to wish defigraviti a happy birthday!_


	44. Chapter 44: There's A Catch

**A/N: Ha, my second 100 word drabble in a row! I am **_**good**_**! Haha, anyway, this two-days-in-a-row-update is my birthday gift from me to you on this glorious day of September 13, also known as **_**my**_** birthday! Thank you for all of the 'happy birthdays' I got, I feel loved! And you should all be thanking oboefae, she gave me this awesome little book (that really looks like an awesome little **_**brick**_**) called 'Creative Block', which is filled with 500 sweet creativity sparks. I'm **_**psyched**_

She had thought it was the perfect solution. It wouldn't go against Elphaba's wishes that her name not be cleared and it would take a giant weight off of her shoulders. She was _brilliant_!

But then again, Glinda had never been known to be one to think things through.

So she did it- she told all of Oz that she had been Elphaba's best friend. However, there was a catch she definitely hadn't counted on.

But on the up side, watching three hundred munchkins take a mad dash towards her with flaming pitchforks three times their size _was_ rather amusing.

**A/N: So I know it's rather morbid, but it's so morbid it's funny. At least that's the reaction I got from Luna Riven and daydreaming readhead when they were cracking up over lunch. So I hope you enjoyed it enough to review!**

**Come on, it's my birthday!! You know you want to give me a gift and review::pouts::**


	45. Chapter 45: How?

_A/N: Another short note, this time because my folks think I'm doing government homework, which I really do have to do. Stupid AP classes..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**How?**

How had it all happened? She'd gone from not giving a whit about Fiyero to loving him more than anything else in Oz. Her relationship with Glinda had bloomed, and now seemed to have died. She'd rescued Nessa, and in doing so had condemned Boq.

And now she's rushing off, hurtling through the air in her haste to reach Kiamo Ko. Elphaba swoops through the open window and lands hard on the floor, barely stopping to dismount before grabbing the Grimmerie. As she chants the meaningless words, all those sleepless nights finally catch up with her. She has one last thought before exhaustion overwhelms her—How had everything gone so wrong?

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_Please review!_


	46. Chapter 46: Silk and Lace

**A/N: I am **_**so**_** sorry for the delay. It's actually been a whole two weeks, which is longer than y'all have ever been made to wait for an update. But please, don't shoot! I had heat exhaustion last Saturday, and that was only the beginning of a sucky week that transcended all normal levels of suckiness. And oboefae was too busy hovering and worrying and being your basic mother hen to nag me about writing. But I hope you'll forgive me::ducks from flying, rotten tomatoes::**

**Disclaimer: Ha, I just realized that I haven't posted one of these in three drabbles. Oh well, nothing's changed. I still don't own it.**

"I _dare_ you," Elphaba said, her eyes glinting wickedly.

Galinda, having been well honed in her Gillikin grammar school, panicked. "No! Don't! Challenge me, bet me, do whatever you want! Just don't dare me!"

Because just like every other blonde-haired, blue-eyed, pink-clad seventeen year old girl in Oz, Galinda Upland couldn't turn down a dare.

Elphaba's smirk just broadened. "_Double_ dare."

Galinda gasped. Her lower lip trembled. Her blue eyes widened. But then she did it: she looked mournfully at the pile of silk and lace in the corner and then walked out of her dorm room.

In _sweats._

**A/N: Review!!**


	47. Chapter 47: A Kind Word

_A/N: This one prompted a really long discussion about Nessa's age. I think Elphaba started Shiz at 17, making Nessa 15, meaning she would have started early. Defigraviti thinks Nessa started at the right time, making Elphaba 19 and therefore older than the other students. It doesn't really matter, but I'm still curious to hear what y'all think, if only because I like to win things._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. If I did, my word on Nessa's age would be law, wouldn't it now?_

**A Kind Word**

"Oh, Elphie," Galinda said, "that may be your secret, but that doesn't make it true."

It was exactly what Elphaba had needed to hear, exactly what she'd been waiting to hear for fifteen years. _It was the milk flowers' fault, not yours._ Galinda's words echoed in her head and, even better than their kind intent, they made sense. Maybe she was right. Maybe the guilt Elphaba's father had instilled in her since Nessa's birth had no real basis.

Maybe her birth hadn't been a curse, as her father so often implied.

Maybe she was meant to make good.

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_A/N: Yep, another one. I went to school as Elphaba for Spirit Week on Wednesday. It was quite the experience. Either the people at my school are Wizard of Oz deficient or wordplay deficient, I couldn't tell which, because most of them couldn't figure out how she fit with Western Wednesday. Oh well. Some interesting drabbles will certainly come of it. Please review!_


	48. Chapter 48: Strange & Fantastic Creature

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, once again. School and band are both beginning to get crazy (especially band- super regional this weekend). So yeah, I took the night off on Friday and didn't go to the away football game. So even though this was written that night, it went through some massive beta-ing (by what seemed like half of my bus on the way to our Saturday contest) so that it would make sense, and I've just now gotten it right. So I hope you enjoy!**

**Disclaimer- Hmm…well…er…um….nope, still don't own it.**

Exam time at Shiz University, a time when insanity runs high.

"This is so mean," Glinda giggled from behind her hand.

Elphaba's eyebrows went up teasingly. "I _know_. Maybe we shouldn't do it."

Both girls collapsed into giggles.

"Shh! Glinda suddenly hissed, pulling Elphaba into the closet with her and yanking it closed. "Here he comes!"

The two stood practically on top of each other with the effort to see out of the door crack as he walked into the room in a towel. He glanced around confusedly for a few moments before he spotted the item he was looking for. He groaned. And then he began to jump.

"So- not- _fair_!" he grunted. "Can't- reach! Tall- person-…_help_!

They couldn't contain it anymore, the girls burst out laughing.

"And here," Elphaba choked out amidst her cackling, "we observe a munchkin, hereby known as Boq, in his natural habitat."

"A strange and fantastic creature," Glinda finished, "with a inexplicable fetish for pink lollipop covered boxers!"

**A/N: Review! Oh, and just on a side note, Legally Blonde the Musical makes me indescribably giddy. That is all.**


	49. Chapter 49: Make Believe

_A/N: I recently discovered something called Playbill Radio, which makes me really happy. While I was listening to it, I discovered the song Make Believe, from Showboat. Since I was also doing homework as I listened, the lyrics entered my mind as an argument sort of like this one. I had the whole thing written in my head before I found out that it's really a happy song. Oops..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own it._

**Make Believe**

They had a big fight not long after she assumed the governorship. On the outside, it was about something small, a window left open or something equally petty, but both knew that it was really about something more. It ended with her shouting at him.

"Couldn't you make believe that you love me?"

He tried. He came back apologetic, with roses for his Rose, and for a while they were almost happy. But it didn't last. They had another fight, and there could be no question what this one was about. It ended with him shouting at her.

"Others find peace of mind in pretending. Can't it be enough for you?"

But it couldn't be. It couldn't be enough for either of them. So it ended.

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_Please review!_


	50. Chapter 50: Club

**A/N: Sorry this took so long, it's been crazy lately. Our last contest is tomorrow and I just got my driver's license, so the directors have been driving us like horses and I've been driving my car. So yeah, sorry… But on the bright side, we've finally reached chapter 50! We're halfway there!**

**Oh, and I just edited this chapter because I realized I left a line out of Morrible's rant and I needed to edit my misuse of the word 'slash.' Thanks for everyone who is more observant than me and corrected it!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked**

"It's like they have their own little _club_ or something," Madame Morrible spat in disgust.

"I know, " the Wizard said fondly, "isn't it cute?"

"Cute? It's _sickening_! I mean, they're _college_ students, you'd think they have gotten over these elementary behaviors by now!"

"But hey all look so _nice _together," the Wizard smiled as he gazed into the mirror that showed the Charmed Circle sitting together on the Shiz grounds. Then his face fell slightly. "It's always nice to have friends…"

"Friends? Who needs _friends_? This is just going to complicate everything! Friendships mean connections and connections mean strength and guilt and a _conscience_! We can't have Elphaba having a _conscience_! And look at that," Morrible pointed, "It's like everyone else is afraid to approach them! Like they've got some kind of invisible barrier that blocks out the outside world. Like they're _untouchable_!"

"Just like us," the Wizard said. And then to himself, "but in a completely different way."

**A/N: I wouldn't even think of including this otherwise, but oboefae has proven to have spent way to much time in both the band room and a catholic school, so I feel that I have to clarify. There is absolutely _no_ Wizard/Morrible shipping in here! The last sentence was a comment on his loneliness, not his relationship with Horrible Morrible. In fact, you're really supposed to get the message here that she's kind of taking advantage of his power and that he's just along for the ride. I hope you all have cleaner minds than my dear friend does during seventh period, but if not, I hope that it is all clearer now.**


	51. Chapter 51: And

_A/N: Sorry this has taken so long, guys. I've been meaning to update for a few days, but it seems that I'm never on the computer that this document is on. I am now, though_

_Disclaimer: Even the slogan isn't mine. I think, when I wrote this months and months ago, I might have known where it was from but I don't remember anymore._

**And**

Walking through the city one day, a sign catches Elphaba's eye: "Remember who you wanted to be."

Who had she wanted to be?

She remembers writing in her journal (it was a journal; girls like Galinda kept diaries) the night she arrived at Shiz: The Wizard and I.

That was what she'd wanted, to be part of a team. To be connected with someone like that, with such a simple but powerful word.

She realizes, staring at the sign, that she got what she wanted. Not with the Wizard, but this was better. She was connected to the people she loved most. Elphaba and Glinda. Elphaba and Fiyero. Yes, it was definitely better.

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_A/N: Defigraviti and I will be in sunny Walt Disney World next week, so the next one probably won't come till after Thanksgiving. Please review!_


	52. Chapter 52: After Midnight

**A/N: I have so much to tell all of you, but I'll try to keep this brief. Well, oboefae and I are back from the happiest place on earth! And we're not too thrilled about it, needless to say. Yesterday we were basking in the 80 degree sunny weather. Today we stepped off of our almost 20 hour bus trip to a cold drizzle. Joy. But some of the highlights of our trip include three hot Norwegian guys (we've definitely added Norway to our list of countries to visit on our future backpacking trip through Europe), one hot Italian guy (can you tell we had fun in Epcot?), little green men (oboefae: "He can hang out with my gnome!"), counting weird looks (don't ask, we lost count), fulfilling the 83 items on ****daydreaming readhead****'s list (no, we didn't actually get all 83, but considering that one of the items was "approach random people, claiming they're your long-lost Great Auntie Muriel or something," I'd say that's a good thing), getting chased by the Yeti (not Sarah, for all of you Nerdfighters out there), and just generally having a fabulous time. But it's going to feel weird to go to bed tonight without having oboefae, Luna Riven, and our other best friend in the room with me. Sigh. Wow, this was a really long author's note. So much for brief. Sorry.**

After midnight in the Emerald City, and the entire town is still awake. Tonight, this includes two young girls from Shiz. They walk together through the dazzling verdigris, their eyes sparkling with excitement and awe. They point out each new wonderment to each other and laugh together for virtually no reason at all.

They stop beside a large fountain in the city square to watch the nightly fireworks show, their arms linked tightly together. There's one large explosion of pink among the mass of green sparks, and the two grin at each other.

And then the two turn to walk towards their temporary home hand in hand. They talk very little, for a night like that can only be marred by words. And even though they both know somewhere in their hearts that everything is about to change, they also both know that at that moment, everything is absolutely perfect.

**A/N: I wrote this on the bus home with oboefae beside me, half watching the movie and half sleeping. Which is pretty much how we all spent most of the ride home. Four days of Disney World really does catch up with you. But yeah, this is basically based on our night in Epcot last night. Just add our two (three? I don't know, what's the status on him oboefae?) best friends and two other friends, and you've got our last fabulous night. And it's now your turn to finish filling them in, oboefae.**

**Review!!! Let's try to get to 200!**


	53. Chapter 53: Lost Perfection

_A/N: Yes, I have a gnome. His name is Gnorman. He's pocket sized. The idea was that I'd take him with me when I went to NYC and take pics of him, like the roaming gnome, but I never took the pictures. He has, however made a permanent home in my purse, along with a new, unnamed little green man._

_Just felt like I should explain that._

_A/N: None of this is mine._

**Lost Perfection**

It was perfect, Fiyero, and it wasn't.

I loved you, but I realize now that you didn't love me.

That you don't love me.

Maybe it's better this way.

Maybe it isn't.

Was it worth it?

I can't make up my mind.

So much of it was pretending.

I pretended to hate her;

You pretended to love me.

You pretended to hate her;

I pretended that you loved me.

We pretended to be perfect.

We were a lie.

It was all a lie.

Was it all a lie?

All those nights spent dancing, were you lying?

Was I?

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_Please review!_


	54. Chapter 54: Misunderstandings

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, it's just been an off couple weeks where we've both been sick and sleep-deprived. And oboefae says that it worries her that this isn't my first crack fic. What do you think? **

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Wicked. Sorry.**

"You two are—uh—_hyper_ this morning," Fiyero said uneasily.

Elphaba took a bite of eggs and bounced ever so slightly in her seat. "Hyper? Why, whatever gave you that idea?" she said, as if absurd, but then she looked at Galinda and they laughed as if at a hidden joke.

"Hey, F'yero," Galinda said suddenly, jabbing her fork in his direction. "Do you think that if we dyed all of our food pink, that we would all _turn_ pink?"

Fiyero wondered briefly if she was drunk.

"Well, I don't know," Elphaba responded in his place. "But maybe we should try it. I've always liked the flavor pink." She winked and it took a moment for Fiyero to pinpoint the manner in which she did it: _suggestively_.

But then the two girls burst out laughing and were incoherent for a solid ten minutes.

"I hate Monday mornings," Fiyero grumbled.

**A/N: Believe it or not, the comment about the flavor pink is something that I actually said at lunch. I vehemently reaffirmed the fact that I don't like the color pink and oboefae's brother held up my empty bottle of strawberry milk. **

**And come on guys! 199 reviews? That's just cruel.**


	55. Chapter 55: Kindred Spirits

_A/N: Yay! 200 reviews! Thanks, guys._

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Kindred Spirits**

Glinda was tired. She'd spent the past two days jogging behind Elphaba, cursing her friend's lengthier strides as they wandered the city, so she was glad when the green girl finally stopped in front of a small shop window.

"Elphaba, wait up!" she called as she ran up to the taller woman. "Really, I've had enough. You haven't stopped since we left this morning even though you promised me caffeine and we didn't stop yesterday, either, and I am really going to have to put my foot down." She stomped her foot for effect, but only succeeded in breaking the heel off her shoe. The resulting crash was what finally got Elphaba's attention.

"Sorry, Glin," she said, helping her up, "I guess I just got distracted."

Glinda ignored her. "What were you looking at?"

"Nothing," Elphaba said. She tried to move off past the window, but Glinda wouldn't move. Instead, she was now staring at the same display Elphaba had been.

"They're so sparkly…" she said, observing the necklaces inside. Realization lit up her face and she beamed at Elphaba. "I knew there was hope for you."

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_A/N: Happy wintry holiday of your choice! Please review!_


	56. Chapter 56: Curves and Angels

**A/N: …I'm not even going to try to excuse myself. I could only dig my hole deeper. But here's a doubly long drabble for your consolation prize! And this drabble may explain some of the delay, anyway. I'm sure y'all can relate. And oboefae and I are seeing Wicked on Saturday! At long, long last, we finally get to see it together, so this time oboefae won't be forced to make any secret phone calls from the bathroom.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked. I do, however, own the original story that I'm working on that still has **_**four unnamed characters. **_**Frustrating. Very frustrating, indeed.**

Galinda was pacing; she went back and forth, back and forth so many times that Elphaba was absolutely convinced that she was going to wear a path into the floor.

Elphaba gave up trying to de-stress with her book. "Galinda, will you _please_ relax? You're making me stress all over again!"

"Sorry," Galinda said shortly. "Can't relax. Relaxing not possible."

Elphaba sighed in exasperation. "G'lin, you're going to make yourself sick. No amount of pacing is going to change your grade and I know you did fine anyway."

Elphaba _did_ know; she had been the one to study with her after all.

"Easy for you to say, little Miss Curve Breaker," Galinda muttered and merely paced faster.

Elphaba groaned and grabbed her friend's hand, pulling her out the door. "Come on," she growled, "We're going to go settle this once and for all."

She dragged Galinda through the Shiz halls until she reached Dr. Dillamond's room, where she curtly knocked. Dr. Dillamond willingly handed the exam to his favorite student and Elphaba looked up at Galinda smugly. Galinda took one look at the bright red letter at the top of the exam and threw her arms around Elphaba, mumbling something about "curves and angels."

**A/N: Even though our month of January (well, **_**my **_**month of January. Thank you for not pushing me, oboefae) hasn't reflected it well, oboefae and I actually made a joint New Year's resolution to update on a weekly basis. So from here on out, you can expect weekly updates. Even from me.**


	57. Chapter 57: The Scandal

_A/N: I'm posting early to make up for the length of the last wait. I wouldn't suggest getting used to it._

_Disclaimer: If Fiyero was mine, seeing Cliffton Hall at the stagedoor wouldn't have been so exciting._

**The Scandal**

I arrived at Shiz with a scandalacious reputation. I was a prince, a noble with an ignoble record. At other schools I'd drunk and partied, flirted with girls and skipped my classes. I flunked out. Everyone at Shiz expected a repeat performance, but they didn't get one.

Don't get me wrong; the talk continued. At Shiz, I drank more coffee than beer, and parties were more like study sessions than dances. I flirted with exactly one girl and went to all of my classes in a vain attempt to impress another. I befriended the nerdiest, most socially awkward girl possible. Somehow, some way, the students of Shiz managed to make a scandal out of the fact that there was no scandal at all.

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_Quick question: Anybody out there who really disliked Glinda as a child? Defigraviti thinks I'm the only one (I didn't just dislike her; I had nightmares about her.) and has challenged me to find another person with similar feelings. If that's you, tell me in the review, which I know you'll write, right?_


	58. Chapter 58: Triangle

**A/N: I've actually been planning on writing this one since I saw Wicked last July, but seeing it last Saturday brought the inspiration for it back, so here you go! **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

Glinda wasn't scared when Fiyero pointed his gun at her; she was relieved. She was relieved that he was safe, but more than that, she was relieved that he was there to rescue Elphaba. It never even crossed her mind that he could shoot her.

"Please," she had begged. _Please get her away from here._

She felt a pang as she realized how deeply she had lost that secure triangle that they had had back at Shiz, but reveled in the fact that it wasn't dead yet. The triangle came alive again at that moment as they all silently worked together to save Elphaba.

**A/N: Review!**


	59. Chapter 59: Perfume and Promises

_A/N: Wow, we're actually keeping our resolution! That's unexpected... I got the title for this one from the song on Idina Menzel's new CD. As I have only listened to the 30 second itunes version of the song, I'm not sure that there's any more connection than that. If there is, it's entirely coincidental._

_Disclaimer: I own neither the characters nor the prompt. Darn.

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_

**Perfume and Promises**

Galinda was happy for Elphaba, really she was. But, at the same time, the wizard's letter gave her an unsettled feeling, which she tried as hard as possible to dismiss. Still, as she wrapped her arms around the green girl, she couldn't help saying it: "Promise me you'll come back."

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The question hit Elphaba hard. It was absurd. Of course she'd come back. Wouldn't she? She hugged Galinda back and took a deep breath, trying to memorize the scent of the girl's perfume, and made a promise that, all of a sudden, she wasn't sure she'd be able to keep: "Of course I'll come back."

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_Please review!_


	60. Chapter 60: Almost Forgotten

**A/N: If you haven't read oboefae's "Letters" yet (chapter 27), then go back and read it before continuing because this drabble is based on it. **

**Disclaimer: Still not mine.**

Glinda spent a long, sleepless night going through the letters in the Grimmerie the night Elphaba left her life forever. She cried when she found them—out of relief or grief she couldn't say—and read each of them slowly so as to cherish each word.

But there were no words to describe the aching feeling that shot through her as she lifted out what appeared to be a long, detailed list—about _her. _She read through pages and pages of detailed observations about herself, some of which _she'd_ never even noticed.

Heading the worn paper were Elphaba's carefully written words: "I refuse to forget."

**A/N: Review!**


	61. Chapter 61: Storm

_A/N: Not much to say. I love snow days._

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Storm**

"Elphaba," a voice said. The sleeping girl tried to ignore it, but she couldn't make it go away. "Elphaba," it said, "are you awake?" The green girl begrudgingly opened her eyes and made out the figure of her sister by the bed.

"What's wrong, Nessie?" she asked.

"I'm afraid of the storm," the little girl whispered. Elphaba pulled her into the bed and wrapped her arms around her. "It's ok, Nessa," she said softly, "it's just a lot of light and sound."

"And wind," Nessa said with a shiver.

"And wind," Elphaba agreed. "But don't worry. The storm can't hurt you."

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_Please review!_


	62. Chapter 62: Taste

**A/U: It's been a rough couple of days, so this is my catharsis. Oh, and oboefae said that I should clarify the setting. It's post-musical.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

Elphaba's broom broke a month into her exile.

She and Fiyero were in the air, as they were every night, when a storm hit. The wind had been so hard and the rain so fierce that Elphaba felt as though she was trying to fly under water. She tried, but they still crashed.

They were forced to travel by foot from that night on. Despite the hardship, Fiyero couldn't understand why Elphaba still clung to the broken fragments.

Elphaba wished that she had never left the Emerald City, for there was nothing more bitter than the enduring aftertaste of freedom.

**A/U: Review!**


	63. Chapter 63: Bubbles

_A/N: I've had this idea since we first started writing these, but I've never been able to make it work. So, hopefully it works this time._

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Bubbles**

Little Galinda never tired of chasing bubbles through the garden. The little orbs sparkled enticingly and the shifting colors captivated her, although she really wished they would just make up their minds and settle on pink, as everything else in her young life had. On this spring day, Ama Clutch blew them for her from the leftover laundry water. Her blue eyes settled on a particularly big one, and she danced this way and that as it drifted down toward her. Finally a breeze propelled it in her direction, and Ama Clutch cackled abrasively as it popped in her face.

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_Anybody familiar with (title of show)? The vampire song has been stuck in my head for about five days now. It's sort of getting annoying. Oh, right: please review!_


	64. Chapter 64: Outsides

**A/N: oboefae and I had a bit of a difference in interpretation with this one, but not really. She pointed out that she had never really seen Nessa's childhood as being all that happy, but I can honestly see it both ways. That's what fanfiction is, right? Exploring different angles? Anyway, here it is. Tell me what you think about her childhood; I'm curious to know what y'all think.**

Galinda was bored. All she and her friends ever did was play with dolls and have tea parties. Galinda didn't even like tea, and she could care less about whose Popsicle was sleeping on the couch and whose Momsie had bought a new gown. But her friends were theonly people she had to talk to during the day, so she smiled and let her dolly sip at her tea.

Elphaba tried to join in, but they wouldn't let her. They laughed, they jeered, they called her names—so she gave up. Every day. But not Nessa. They smiled at Nessa and she squealed in delight as they took turns wheeling her around. Elphaba had been strictly instructed to watch her sister, though, so she pulled out a book and read.

**A/N: Review! I know it's getting to be that time of the school year (AP tests are viciously sneaking up on us all), but oboefae and I always appreciate the reprieve from stress that your reviews give us.**


	65. Chapter 65: Spring

_A/N: Not my favorite, but I wrote it on the first warm day we had. Granted, it's snowing as I write this, so you can see how long that lasted. Spring couldn't come soon enough for me._

_Disclaimer: Not mine._

**Spring**

Few things made Elphaba happier than the coming of spring. Quadling Country was too warm for snow, which was at least fairly dry; instead, its days consisted mainly of cold grey drizzle, which always managed to work its way past her many layers to the tender skin beneath, leaving her with nearly constant burns. She hated winter.

Spring, however, was a different story. True, it sometimes poured for days on end, but between those days were periods of warmth and sunshine. She would marvel at the new plants, staring at them next to her own fingers until the two greens melded into one. The best part, though, was that when spring came she could spend her time away from the Thropp family shack. She could climb trees and read books, an, for a few wonderful hours, she could truly be herself.

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_Please review!_


	66. Chapter 66: Revelation

**A/N: Since oboefae said she'd post this on Tuesday, I'm currently laying on the beach in Florida with an inch of sunscreen covering me and a book open in my lap. Ah, paradise! I've got thirteen books packed so far. Yes, this is my idea of an ideal vacation.**

**Anyway, oboefae pointed out when she beta-read this a couple weeks ago that this was the kind of theme that I hated, and she was right, but the point of it is to show a possible way that Galinda became the way she was—not to say that it was right.**

Galinda hated her new dress. It itched around her neck and was painfully tight around her arms. She sneaked up to her room after breakfast to change into her favorite dress—a dark blue cotton that was loose and soft. But her mother was horrified to see the pile of pink lace in the corner.

"But, Galinda!" she had shrieked, "Pink is your best color! You looked so _pretty_ in that new dress! Why would you want to wear _that_ wretched frock?

So Galinda changed back into the pink frills. Her mother beamed and Galinda looked at herself in the mirror.

She concluded that her mother was right—she _was_ much prettier in pink and lace.

**A/N: It's very cool for me to think that this is sort of the anniversary of Delusions of Grandeur. We may have officially posted the story on April 16, but we committed to the idea on the last day of school before spring break last year and we each wrote some of our first stories over that week. I was in Florida last year, too. However, last year was markedly better—last year I had a laptop and this year, I do not (as the magical computer genies have failed to fix it in time). Thus, oboefae is posting this for me. Well, I'm obviously feeling chatty, but it's almost 2 AM and I have to finish packing. Leave some reviews for me to come home to on Sunday!**


	67. Chapter 67: Boxes

_A/N: The real A/N is at the bottom, it just looked empty up here._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked, but I do own a box big enough to sit in._

**Boxes**

She happened upon it one night while her parents were giving a party. It sat in the middle of an almost empty room, a forgotten relic from her parents' move into the too-big house several years ago. She was torn. Propriety, a word drilled into her thought process even at her tender eight years, told her to go back to the party. She had a pretty new dress to show off, and someone would eventually notice that she was missing. Fatigue, however, was setting in, and it, coupled with the frustration of being alternately paraded around and ignored for the past few hours, told her to stay. Fatigue won. Lifting her skirts in a most unlady-like fashion, Galinda climbed into the empty box.

_A/N: I love boxes. Really. They can be anything you want them to be. I actually wrote this while sitting in a box, which is going to the dumpster tomorrow._ :( _Where will I do my homework now?_


	68. Chapter 68: Comeuppance

**A/N: I just spent about ten minutes attempting to log on, getting rejected every time. I checked the email (yep, it's not my personal one, it's the one oboefae and I share), and I checked the password (yep, it's ours), so I naturally assumed that the site was just being annoying again. Turns out, I had just typed in the email address wrong. All the times I retyped it. DefiGraviti needs sleep.**

**Disclaimer: I keep forgetting to add these. Ah, well. I don't own Wicked. Please don't sue, you really won't get anything.**

If there was one thing Elphaba wasn't, it was guilty

If there was one thing Elphaba wasn't, it was guilty. It wasn't her fault, and nobody would ever be able to convince her otherwise. There was _no_ sense of loss, sadness, or frustration.

Elphaba was angry.

Elphaba was so angry that she couldn't see straight, so angry that she had no room in her mind for anything else. Leaving the wizard like that had filled her with a strange sort of wrathful elation. She didn't even care that the public still adored the wizard, because they certainly wouldn't for very long. He would get his comeuppance.

Elphaba would see to that.

**A/N: I know that a lot of you have this on alert and don't review (and we do thank you for reading), but oboefae and I really do appreciate every single review that we get. They're a frequent topic in our copious email conversations and we tend to mention it to the other whenever we get them. And we miss them.**

**So yeah, that was my guilt trip from me to you. Did you enjoy it?**


	69. Chapter 69: Light

_A/N: AP exams in 2 1/2 weeks. I'll be more talkative after that._

_Disclaimer: If I read 80 pages for Government and transpose a whole piece from oboe to English horn, can I claim Wicked? The insanity plea should suffice..._

**Light**

It started as conflict, one more thing the two girls found to argue about.

"Miss Elphaba, how in Oz do you expect me to get my beauty rest when you insist on staying up so late?"

"I learned long ago that beauty sleep isn't all it's cracked up to be, Miss Galinda. Perhaps you would do better to study for a bit yourself."

The argument seemed to be endless, but then that day came, the one that changed everything. A certain blonde student was poked into awareness. The conflict was flipped upside down.

"Glinda, it's four o'clock in the morning. Turn off the light."

"Elphie, you taught me long ago that some things are more important than sleep. I have to fix my grades. You don't need beauty sleep."

It ended as a joke, one more otherwise meaningless episode the two girls found to tease each other about.

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_Please review!_


	70. Chapter 70: Relativity

**A/N: Mmm, not much to say. I love spring, strawberries taste good, conducting is fun…I'll talk more after the AP test.**

**Disclaimer: I still don't own Wicked, but thanks for asking.**

Galinda glanced across the grounds to where Shenshen, Milla, and Pfannee were clustered around their usual table, all giggling at something the new girl had said. She wasn't actually new, but she had just recently joined the three girls, filling the space that had been left vacant.

Galinda couldn't' help but feel a sense of loss. Those had been _her_ friends. That had been _her_ table and _her_ gossip. That was _her_ spot.

"So what do you think?"

Galinda jumped. "What?"

Elphaba rolled her eyes. "The debate we had in Ozian Lit. What do you think?"

Galinda smiled and turned away from her past life. Perhaps loss was all relative.

**A/N: Review!**


	71. Chapter 71: Slipping Away

_A/N: I am sort of unfond of this one. My AP English teacher is cringing somewhere at the superficial meaningless-ness. Ah, well..._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Slipping Away**

Fiyero arrived in the cafeteria to find Elphaba huddled at the table, hands clamped protectively around her coffee.

"Where's Glinda?" he asked, but all that he received in response was an odd series of grunts.

"Elphaba? You didn't sleep at all last night, did you?"

She shook her head.

"Come on," he said, motioning toward the door. "You're skipping your first class."

"I can't skip my first class. Doctor Dillamond has a demonstration for us." Elphaba's monotone further confirmed Fiyero's suspicions.

"Doctor Dillamond will dock your grade when monkeys fly. You can afford to miss one day." Fiyero took Elphaba's hand and led her out to the patch of trees near the canal. Settling her head on his shoulder, Elphaba found a place that was far more comfortable than any bed she'd ever been in.

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_I realized when I typed this up that the last line makes it sound like Elphaba's been in lots of beds. You know what I mean. Get your minds out of the gutter/bandroom and review!_


	72. Chapter 72: Consolation

**A/N: I apologize for this right now—it's definitely not my best work. Just like oboefae's last week, this is pretty useless, but they're the best we can do under the pressure of AP week(s). We promise that our characters will go back to normal after our tests are over (oboefae is done tomorrow afternoon, I'm done Tuesday), but until then, the Charmed Circle is just as exam-ridden as we are.**

Galinda had had a bad day. She had a miserable cold, she was exhausted from her ever-more-frequent late study nights, she was stressed about impending exams, and she had been completely passed over at the end-of-year Shiz award ceremony. Not only that, but she had fallen asleep in class that morning. The professor had made a complete fool of her in front of the entire class.

With a sigh, Galinda let herself into their room. She hadn't seen Elphaba all day, and she really just needed her best friend. Elphaba caught her expression immediately, so when Galinda crawled onto the bed beside her and rested her head on her shoulder, she merely wrapped her arms around her.

They sat like that in silence. Sometimes, words just weren't necessary.

**A/N: Oboefae is feeling terribly flu-ish and feverish, and she still has to go in at 7 AM tomorrow for her English exam, so everyone please stop and wish her luck for tomorrow!**


	73. Chapter 73: Children

_A/N: I love finding drabbles I wrote but never posted. It makes my life so much simpler._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked, even though I have been building a dream cast in my head._

**Children**

"Aren't children divine?" Nanny had once asked. But Elphaba quickly learned that they were no such thing. In later years, as she grew up and began to really think about things, she would question whether anything was truly divine, but her first experiences were with children. Children poking and pinching and throwing rocks. Children calling her names: Cabbage Face, Lettuce Head, and, her personal favorite, Artichoke. At least Artichoke was fairly original.

In those last days at Kiamo Ko, spent pondering everything from Animal rights to Ozian history, Elphaba decided that, if an Unnamed God _did_ exist, It had certainly thrown plenty of rocks at her, poked and prodded her enough. So maybe children really were divine.

_Please review!_


	74. Chapter 74: Hours

**A/N: I'm a horrible drabble writer—192 words is not a drabble. Ah, well. I've just spent three hours huddled in front of my music theory composition—I deserve a little slack.**

**Disclaimer: There's a lot of things I don't own, and Wicked is one of them.**

Elphaba stared at the wall—every muscle tensed and ready, adrenaline pumping through her veins. She tried to remember back to when this feeling had signaled excitement, for that was a much more pleasant emotion than fear.

She turned her gaze to the glowing green clock on the bedside table. 1:04 AM. 0 months, 0 weeks, 0 days, 8 hours, and 56 minutes before her life changed forever.

Elphaba groaned and turned over huffily. Glinda lay in the bed beside her, her pale face almost glowing in the moonlight. Elphaba breathed in deeply, Glinda's faint scent of lavender and shampoo registering with a pang. Elphaba tried to imagine Glinda being 500 miles away from her, with that scent no longer ever present in her life. She closed her eyes and tried to memorize it, but she still couldn't make herself believe it.

She gently rolled back over to face the clock, so as not to wake Glinda. The clock now read 1:11. 0 months, 0 weeks, 0 days, 8 hours, and 49 minutes.

"Please…" she whispered, but that's as far as she got in her wish before the clock clicked to 1:12.

**A/N: Review!**


	75. Chapter 75: Circle

_A/N: This drabble has gone through more name changes than I care to count. That's what I get for writing without a prompt._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Circle**

None of them quite fit into their respective families.

Elphaba rejected her father and sister's faith and stuck out like a sore thumb from their blonde, fair-skinned clan.

Galinda, after a semester with Elphaba, spent her vacation arguing with her parents about Animal rights, the Quadling mines, and relief for the Munchkins during the drought.

Fiyero's parents were inches away from disowning him since he'd failed out of his last school.

Boq was the first person from Rush Margins to go to college, and all of a sudden his friends and family had started treating him differently.

Neither Crope's nor Tibbet's parents were particularly happy about each boy's involvement with the other.

Luckily, though, friendship is thicker than blood, and soon Shiz felt more like home than anywhere else in Oz.

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_Please review!_


	76. Chapter 76: Without You

**A/N: I would like to start by congratulating oboefae on her graduation! She has successfully reached the end of her high school career, and you should have seen how weighted down she was with congratulatory neckwear. Two medals and a 3.75 GPA…stole? Anyway, this is inspired by how many times we relived our childhood this weekend at graduation parties. Go figure.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

When they were little, Nessa loved to look up at the clouds. Elphaba would help her lay down on the ground, and they would lie there for hours, pointing out pictures. Elphaba really loved her sister during these quiet times.

Galinda enjoyed looking at the stars. She and Elphaba would lie on the grass on clear nights, and would just enjoy each other's company. They didn't say much, except for the occasional comment on cosmic gas or hippos, but they both loved those peaceful nights.

After she left, Elphaba tried to lie still and look at the sky, but she just couldn't stand it on her own. Restless—she would never fail to reach for her broom and fly away.

**A/N: Don't forget to stop and tell oboefae congratulations! She deserves it.**


	77. Chapter 77: Cushion the Blow

_A/N: Oh no, I've broken the New Year's Once-a-Week posting resolution! Sorry, guys, I just started work this week and it's really had an adverse effect on my computer time. Plus, when I tried to post last night I was on a computer different than the one I normally use and couldn't remember the email we use for this one. Not fun. Anyway, I have to go explain myself to defigraviti._

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, I'd be spending my days doing more than stuffing envelopes._

**Cushion the Blow**

I tried not to hurt her. Really. Even after everything that had happened, a part of her was still the sweet girl I had known at Shiz, and a part of me couldn't forget that. She looked up at me (yes, even standing she still had to look up at me, and maybe that's what did it), and I couldn't just leave her. So I made an attempt to cushion the blow. A feeble attempt, but still, it seemed like the right thing to do at the time. I said the first thing that popped into my head: "Nessa, I know it's late to make amends, but can't we part as friends?"

It didn't work. My "cushion" functioned more like iron spikes. Maybe I was heartless to begin with.

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_Oh, in explanation, the line is from the SF preview version of WWOTE. It sort of adds another facet to the whole Bessa thing. Please review!_


	78. Chapter 78: Deja Vu

**A/N: I made the adjustments that oboefae suggested, but I'm still not sure if this worked the way I wanted it to. Sorry about the delay (again.) We've both got jobs now, and summer has really thrown us off of our routines.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

Galinda slept soundly through Elphaba's alarm, but not through her Elphaba Alarm.

"Ga-_lin_-da," Elphaba sang, lightly rubbing her arm, "Ga-_lin_-da."

Galinda cracked open one eye and glared. "Good morning," Elphaba smiled. "I'm going to be in the bathroom. Don't go back to sleep."

Galinda begrudgingly got out of bed and gathered her shower things. Elphaba stepped out a moment later in a towel, and the two switched places. Galinda showered and dressed, and then Elphaba joined her in the bathroom, now fully clothed. Elphaba handed Galinda her brush, which she had left sitting on her vanity, and then dug in Galinda's bag for her toothpaste, as she had run out the night before. Elphaba finished much faster than Galinda, and returned to their bedroom. When Galinda emerged, she saw Elphaba tucking their books into their respective bags. Galinda moved to the closet and dropped Elphaba's shoes at her feet. The two put their shoes on and shouldered their bags before facing each other in the doorway. Galinda straightened Elphaba's collar; Elphaba untangled Galinda's earring from her hair. They nodded at each other slightly, and then silently walked out the door to class.

Just another ordinary day.

**A/N: Review!**


	79. Chapter 79: Barely Sane

_A/N: I've never understood why people always send Glinda down to visit Madame Morrible in Southstairs, but at the same time, it was an intriguing idea. So there's that._

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, I wouldn't be so busy procrastinating on writing my first college paper._

**Barely Sane**

Horrible Morrible (she'd never deserved an honorific like "Madame"), was but an empty shell of her former imposing self. She'd been overheard talking to herself. Her guards reported incidents of shrieking in the night, usually directed at some man named Oscar. Other inmates said she sang melodies with nonsense words to no one in particular.

But she was sane, if just barely so. She recognized Glinda, on those occasions when the leader came down to inspect the goings on in the jail. She addressed her directly. It made Glinda uncomfortable, the woman's lucidity, but at the same time she derived a bizarre joy from it. Morrible understood her isolation. She was aware of the utter horribleness of her condition. She deserved it.

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	80. Chapter 80: Ghosts

**A/N: I am actually posting this on time, for the first time in four weeks. I know it's pretty late in the day, but oboefae's and my work schedules contrast so severely that late at night is actually the only time we're both home.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

Boq arrived early to Milla's dorm. Her roommate let him in with a giggle, and Milla didn't emerge for another fifteen minutes—looking very pretty, if somewhat gaudy, in her purple sequined gown. Her hair tottered dangerously as he ushered her out the door.

"You remember that place?" Milla asked distractedly as they passed the Peach and Kidneys. "We used to go there all the time."

"Oh, yes," Boq affirmed softly, and the unspoken hung thickly between them.

They went far off campus, to a small place unfamiliar to them both. They talked lightly of their graduation ceremony the next week, of their immediate plans afterward, of their remaining friends.

"Glinda did really well on her final sorcery presentation," Boq offered weakly, and Milla shot him a glare.

"Come visit me at my family's estate this summer," she responded darkly, and Boq wondered how in Oz he had gotten himself in this mess.

**A/N: Review!**


	81. Chapter 81: The Last Goodbye

_A/N: Hey guys, sorry I missed the week. I've been taking a class and haven't had much time to do anything much besides homework. Getting a jump start on the year was probably a good idea, but it wasn't fun. Things should get more regular now. Anyway, it's the class of 58 because I figured the Wizard would probably have messed up the calendar just like he messed up the rest of Oz, so it's 58 years since he landed. Just thought that might be confusing._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked, but I am insanely excited about the movie talks._

**The Last Goodbye**

Glinda the Good stood at the lectern and gazed out at the sea of blue robes beneath her. The excitement and happiness of the students packing the floor of the great hall was almost palpable, and she smiled ruefully at it. She'd been one of them, once, a long time ago. She knew what it was like to graduate, but she also knew what it was like to wake up alone the next morning, to be the single rent-payer on the flat you'd dreamed of filling together, and so now, 40 years since her own graduation and three months after officially resigning from her post as ruler of Oz, she stood in front of the class of 58 and gave a speech that no one was expecting:

"_Faculty, parents, and, most important, graduates, I stand here today to congratulate you. You're free; free from tuition payments, free from papers, and free from all-nighters. Enjoy your newfound freedom; it doesn't last long. Look around at your fellow graduates. Memorize their faces. Revel in this moment, because I have to tell you something I wish someone would have told me: There's a catch…"_

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	82. Chapter 82: Falling Apart

**A/N: This marks the second time that oboefae has been in my room, forcing me to write. This time, however, she read to me from my Writer's Block to inspire me. Spark Quote: "We need to talk." Gelphie if you squint.**

Fiyero watched as Elphaba sat restlessly in the window, her knees curled up to her chin. Every few minutes, she waved her hands over the crystal ball and Glinda's face appeared. In the beginning, Glinda's face had almost always surfaced tear-stained and wretched; now, more and more, she emerged smiling. Fiyero could never tell whether this made Elphaba feel glad or deserted.

Elphaba turned away from the window and moved her hands over the crystal ball. Moving from his familiar perch in the far corner, Fiyero placed his hand on her shoulder. She jumped.

"We need to talk," he said.

**A/N: Review!**


	83. Chapter 83: Falling

_A/N: Defigraviti actually forced me to write this while sitting at Chipotle. That was fun._

_Disclaimer: If I owned any part of the rights to Wicked, Chipotle would happen a lot more often._

**Falling**

Elphaba had climbed the tree many times that fall, when Galinda's hostility drove her from their tiny room, but in the months since they had become friends, she'd stopped craving the space and alone time quite as much. Now, however, first semester exams were upon them, and Galinda was driving her up a wall. She couldn't think with her friend's constant chattering and the persistent smell of nail polish, so she did something that, from the safety of her warm, brightly lit dorm room, seemed to be a good idea: she headed across the snowy grounds to the tree.

Meanwhile, Fiyero faced a similar problem in the form of one Master Avaric. After sitting through the umpteenth lecture on the fashion of the boys from Three Queens, Fiyero snapped and bolted from the room towards the first thing that caught his eye: the huge tree across the courtyard.

"Dammit," Elphaba muttered to herself as she lost her footing on the lowest branches of the tree. They were covered in ice. Readjusting her grip, she pushed the thought that this was maybe not the best idea out of her head until, with one final misstep, she was sent plummeting towards the ground and into the arms of a very surprised prince.

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	84. Chapter 84: Moon

**A/N: Band and school have started for me, one right after the other, but that still doesn't give me any excuse for this delay. …Blame oboefae.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

"Have you ever noticed how sad the moon looks?"

Glinda blinked drowsily and lifted her head from Elphaba's shoulder. Elphaba, who sat half-drenched in shadow, continued to stare at the round yellow moon outside of the train window.

Glinda squinted and leaned closer to Elphaba, trying to see what she saw. "It's just the moon," she said dumbly.

"But haven't you ever heard of the man in the moon?"

"Uh-huh…"

"Well, look at his face. Doesn't he look lonely?"

Glinda tilted her head to one side, and then the other, and then shut one eye. "Yeah," she agreed softly.

They sat like that for a moment, but then Glinda sighed contentedly and nuzzled back into Elphaba's shoulder. Satisfied, Elphaba rested her head on Glinda's.

The next morning, they arrived in the Emerald City. Two weeks later, Glinda returned to Shiz alone. She sat down heavily on her bed that night and carefully trained her eyes on the window, unable to think of anything but how much more desolate the moon looked without its other half.

**A/N: Review!**


	85. Chapter 85: Sacrament

_A/N: I'm not even sure anybody's reading this anymore, but defigraviti and I are stubborn folk and are set on reaching 100. That said, these are much easier to write when you know your audience consists of more than just your best friend, so please, if you read this, click the little purple button down there at the bottom, too._

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, I'd be too busy to write fanfic, especially for my own show._

**Sacrament**

A clear soprano drifted out of the old church, catching the ear and memory of the young woman hurrying down the street. She didn't even understand the words. All Elphaba felt was that she somehow needed to get closer to that voice, to take a moment to stop and finally allow all of the things that had happened in the months since she'd left Glinda on the train catch up to her.

Much had happened. She'd caught up with the Resistance and been inducted into its ranks. She'd become a part of something larger than herself, a movement that embraced everything she stood for, even as it also encompassed some things she did not. And she'd encountered a loneliness she'd never thought possible, deeper even than the kind she'd felt in the desolate, unfriendly marshes of the Quadling Country.

So she snuck into the chapel, not failing to notice that it belonged to Saint Glinda, and allowed the fiery tears to run down her cheeks.

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	86. Chapter 86: Caught

**A/N: oboefae and I spent several emails trying to figure out how to end this one, and we're pretty pleased with the result. Sorry about the delay; I'm whirling in circles in the middle of the marching season and oboefae just moved in to college last Wednesday. We're trying to get back into a routine.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

Remaining at Shiz was the hardest thing that Glinda had ever done. Returning wasn't so difficult, as she was much too stubborn to let herself publicly fall apart; but remaining there, day after day, with shadows of Elphaba lingering in every corner, was agonizing.

She'd forget, sometimes. One of her teachers would say something utterly half-witted, or Boq would do something endearingly awkward, and she would rush back to her room to tell Elphaba all about it, only to slow down to a dragging walk halfway there. Sometimes she would stare at the door through entire class periods, waiting despite herself for Elphaba to fly in late. She took to sleeping in Elphaba's bed.

The worst times were the pleasant ones. She would be sitting on the lawn with the remnants of the Charmed Circle, pleasantly passing the time, and the perpetually empty space beside her would suddenly burn white-hot. She hated Shenshen, Pfannee, and Milla, if only for the fact that they still had their best friends and she didn't. She couldn't help but see what used to be and what could have been every time she saw them together.

Leaving, on the other hand, was dead easy; she had to force herself to wait for graduation. After all, the Charmed Circle didn't need another hole. _She_ wouldn't do that to them.

**A/N: Tell me what you think! And wish oboefae well at school.**


	87. Chapter 87: Shades of Grey

_A/N: Hey everyone. Thanks for all the well-wishing; college is going well so far. I have way too much homework already, though. So goes life, I suppose. Also, if any of you are title of show fans, go sign the petition to get them on Ellen. Save tos, save Broadway. Word._

_Disclaimer: Come on, guys, the folks who own Wicked are way out of college._

**Shades of Grey**

_"__Can there be grief, regret, in your exalted circle? Is there any such thing as a mistake? Is there a concept of tragedy?"_

Fiyero's words echoed in Elphaba's mind long after he'd left. Truth be told, she'd wondered these things, too, but she'd never had the courage to voice them when the Resistance met. Besides, she'd told herself, she was still only a small cog in its giant metal structure. The group's leaders knew what they were doing; better to let them handle it.

But did they, really? Sometimes Elphaba looked in the mirror and saw for a moment the girl who had been so shaken by Professor Nikidik's torture of the Lion cub. She saw the girl who had once asked Fiyero, "Do you think this is easy? Do you think I want to care this much, when life would be so much simpler if I didn't?"

Thinking about that now, Elphaba shuddered.

It wasn't.

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	88. Chapter 88: What?

**A/N: Sorry this took so long. Oboefae and I are reaching the home stretch, and we're finding ourselves running out of ideas. Only twelve left!**

"What?"

Galinda sighed. "_Scrabble_," she sad, drawing the word out slowly, "why don't we play it?"

Shenshen blinked. "Isn't that the game with all the letters?"

"Yes, it is. It's fun, I promise. Elphie and I play it all the time."

Shenshen's face promptly crumpled. "Miss Ga_lin_da," she whined, "You promised this would be _our_ night! Why do you keep insisting on dragging _her_ into it?"

Galinda could feel a headache coming on, and she wondered why she had ever agreed to this in the first place. It wasn't as if she couldn't have ignored Shenshen's oh-so-subtle cries of neglect, but it also wasn't like she had anything better to do with Elphaba home for the weekend.

Galinda brought a hand to her temple. "How about chess?" she asked.

"What?"

**A/N: Review!**


	89. Chapter 89: Secrets

_A/N: Happy Halloween! Also, wow. Wicked's been running for five years today. That's pretty awesome._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Secrets**

Boq heard footsteps coming down the stairs, then Milla's voice. "My, aren't you a scary witch!" He winced. He'd tried pushing other costumes—Lurline, Ozma, even a nameless old woman get-up that looked creepily like Madame Morrible, but Milla overrode him. "It's her first time trick-or-treating, Boq. All the other girls want to be witches. Let her have her fun."

Now a tiny witch had scrambled into the room. "Daddy, Daddy, how do I look?" she asked, voice slightly muffled by her costume. He took in the mask, hideous and distorted after so many retellings of Dorothy's tale. Her wig was tangled and matted, her fake nails gnarled. The only thing that was remotely correct was the pointed black hat, but even that looked far different than the one he remembered from the Ozdust so many years before. Everything was wrong.

He wanted to tell her, then. He wanted to tell someone, anyone, about the witch he'd known. She'd had a name and a heart, and more courage than he could ever muster. But he couldn't. He couldn't tell anyone. So he read the lines every Ozian insisted he use. "You look great, honey. You'll be the scariest witch in Oz tonight."

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	90. Chapter 90: Perfect

**A/N: Sorry this has taken so long. Marching band is permanently over for me now, though :(, so my schedule should be freeing up a bit. **

Glinda stared up at the disappearing figure of her best friend and determinedly pushed back tears. She wouldn't let the Wizard's guards see her cry, even if that was the only act of bravery she could claim later. She wouldn't let them see her weakness.

Despite of herself, she had to close her eyes and grip the table behind her to stay upright. Visions of their past flitted through her mind hurricane-style, quickly followed by glimpses of the future that would never be. She realized now that they would never graduate together, would never share that flat in the Emerald City, would never work together. All of that was gone now.

They had been naive to have these dreams. In a perfect world, maybe, where Glinda was merely the pretty one and Elphaba merely the smart one, this future could have become real. Glinda wasn't perfect, though, and Elphaba wasn't perfect, so that life could never be.

"I'm sorry," Glinda whispered, suddenly regretting her choice to stay. Elphaba wasn't perfect, either, though. She didn't have to leave, didn't have to abandon Glinda. She had been stubborn and hot-headed and not at all rational, but that, Glinda realized, was what she had always loved about her.

"Nothing's perfect," Glinda whispered, opening her eyes and accepting that for the first time.

**A/N: Review! The closer we get to the end, the harder oboefae and I are finding it to find the motivation to update, but reviews may just be the motivation we need! **


	91. Chapter 91: Winter

_A/N: Sorry, guys. College is taking all my time away. I'll try to get back on the regular-posts horse next time. Anyway, DefiGraviti and I wish you all a fantastic holiday. See you in 2009._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Winter**

That morning, the school was abuzz with talk of the impending battle. A thick blanket of snow had settled across the grounds overnight, and excitement was spreading through the hallways in a flood of notes.

"_Let's set up the fort right under the tree next to the canal."_

"_I heard we've got three more inches coming!"_

One student, however, was not so enthusiastic. "I just don't get it, Fiyero," Elphaba Thropp said as they walked across the courtyard. Exams were fast approaching, and she was growing more and more prickly as the days wore on. "What could possibly be so great about being pounded with frozen balls of water?" There was no response. "Fiyero?" Suddenly, a snowball flew through the air, catching her just on the side of the head. The perpetrator stepped out from behind a tree.

"Fiyero!" He ran, Elphaba following in hot pursuit. Finally she caught him, and they tumbled laughing into the snow. Breathless, Fiyero sat up. "That, Miss Elphaba, is what's so great about snow."

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	92. Chapter 92: New Year

**A/N: I actually started writing this one a year ago, but couldn't actually gather the inspiration to finish it until I was forced to endure a bit too much physics. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

Galinda

Get Elphie to wear something pink.

Get that stupid training wand to work.

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Fiyero

Get new pants. Those tights are starting to chafe.

Buy a Christmas gift for Galinda. She might get angry with me if I wait any longer.

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Nessa

Get Boq to forget about Galinda—dye my hair blonde?

Shake off Morrible. Honestly, having her as my roommate is probably what's keeping Boq away!

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Boq

Get Galinda to notice me.

Start jogging in the mornings. It shouldn't be too hard to outrun a wheelchair, right?

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Elphaba

Bring grades up. That A- has got to go.

Figure out a way to make Galinda's perfume "mysteriously" disappear. I can't deal with the headaches anymore.

**A/N: We didn't make any real resolutions last night (we were far too caffeinated to think straight), but I think it's safe to say that oboefae and I resolve to actually finish this project this year. In the next couple months, actually. After almost two years, we're straining down the home stretch. Our goal is to reach 400 reviews by end, and we need all of your help to do it. We thank you for all of your support thus far. Anyway, oboefae and I hope you had an excellent New Year's last night, and we wish you a fantastic 2009!**


	93. Chapter 93: Falling to Pieces

_A/N: I'd like to apologize in advance for the angst. I've been listening to too much Evita. Other than that, wow! So many reviews! Thank you all for them. They really do make our days, sometimes._

_Disclaimer: 93 chapters in, and I'm still trying to come up with clever ways to tell you I don't own Wicked. Maybe I'll have one by 99._

**Falling to Pieces**

The years were not kind to Glinda the Good. The trademark blonde greyed. Clear blue eyes clouded. An unfortunate affinity for pink turned into an even less fortunate affinity for mauve. And the Dragon's hands ticked continuously onward.

Still, Glinda had long ago learned that there was more to life than the physical. She still had power. She could still command the attention of thousands. She could still accomplish all of the goals at which Elphaba had failed. But she did not. They sat there, piled in the corners of her mind like monsters in the shadows: free the animals; inject candor and empathy into the government; clear Elphaba's name. She wanted to do these things, not just for her friend but for all of Oz, but she could not. She couldn't speak out. She couldn't criticize the Ozian people. She couldn't risk losing their love.

So time marched on, taxing far more than Glinda's appearance. It tore at her soul.

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	94. Chapter 94: Saint

**A/N: oboefae challenged me to write a drabble based on the word "Saint," which wouldn't have been so hard if I hadn't been so determined to avoid writing something cliché. I hope I succeeded.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked.**

"Saint," they sometimes called her. "Saint Fae," to her face. It was a term of respect, reverence. Elphaba never got used to hearing it.

They didn't mean to call her an angel, or even a martyr; no, only a leader. _The _leader. She wasn't, of course. She had no more started the Resistance than she was an Animal herself. She did lead a small group of people within it, though, and the organizational system of the Resistance was so convoluted that most of them had no idea it even extended beyond their tidy troupe. So she was their Saint--their patron, their founder.

The irony was never wasted on Elphaba. The Artichoke called Elphie had evolved, rather quickly, into a being christened with same title that referred to the most highly esteemed paragons of her father's church. She couldn't help but smirk in Saint Glinda's figurative direction every time she heard it. She wasn't a saint--not even close.

**A/N: Review! We still need everyone's help to reach 400.**


	95. Chapter 95: Summer

_A/N: So, in retaliation for giving her the word "Scrabble," DefiGraviti gave me the word "shorts." I can plead sugar and excitement on "Scrabble," considering the fact that we were driving home from meeting John Green on the Tour de Nerdfighting, but all she has for "shorts" is revenge. I don't think that's fair, but the past few months of assigning each other prompts have certainly been interesting, so I suppose it's worth it. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy it, and thanks for all the reviews. We may well reach 400 now!_

_Update: I don't know if this sent out an email thingy or not, but this is not a new chapter. This is me being anal and fixing a mistake. :)_

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Summer**

Boq was jolted out of his studies when the door slammed. He looked up to find a sopping wet Fiyero searching frantically through his closet. "What happened to you?" Boq asked.

"Elphaba pushed me in the canal." Muttering, Fiyero turned away from his closet and started rummaging through his doors.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing."

Boq raised an eyebrow. "Fiyero, I am neither the first nor will I be the last person to question Elphaba's means and motives, but she rarely acts without purpose."

Fiyero sighed. "Look, all I know is one minute we were discussing the drought, and the next minute I was in the canal. I don't know what I said, or why she pushed me, but I do know I screwed something up, and," he shut the drawer, perhaps a bit too hard, "it's laundry day, and I'm out of pants."

"You can borrow some of mine."

"They'll be way too short."

"They'll be dry," Boq responded. "The ones you're in now can't possibly be comfortable." He handed them over, and Fiyero grudgingly took them. "Besides, once you're dry, you can go fix whatever it is you broke."

That seemed to make Fiyero feel better. Pulling them on, he regained his princely demeanor. "Yeah," he said, "She can't be mad at me for long. I'll find her, apologize for whatever it is I did, and things will go back to normal!"

He looked so much happier that Boq forced himself not to laugh at the image now before him, of Fiyero in very tight, very short Munchkin clothing. Still, he couldn't quite resist at least one dig. "Hey," he called as Fiyero set off down the hallway," don't forget, while you're busy sweeping the girl off her feet: You're basically wearing shortpants!" He shut the door on Fiyero's rather un-princely gesture.

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	96. Chapter 96: Connections

**A/N: Only five more of these left! Can you believe it?**

**Disclaimer: I own a lot of things, but Wicked is not one of them.**

After that fateful night at the Ozdust, Elphaba was sent into what felt like a permanent state of confusion. She was used to being the outcast, but now people were suddenly talking to her, and she had no idea how to react. And Oz, Galinda! She called them _friends_. Friends! What did that word even mean? Elphaba didn't know how to be a friend. What was this new role that had been thrust upon her?

She wandered around clueless-ly for about a month, until she heard the words that cleared it all up for her: "Elphaba and Galinda." "Elphaba ad Galinda will do it," Dr. Dillamond said decisively, confidently volunteering them for some project or another. And then Elphaba looked to her right side and smiled at her best friend, suddenly understanding what it meant to be a part of a "we."

**A/N: Review!**


	97. Chapter 97: She

_A/N: "What's this?" you say. "Two updates in a row? It's like old times!" Well, sort of. You can probably expect these last few updates to be pretty close together. Why? I can't tell you. It's a sekrit._

_Disclaimer: If I owned Wicked, that second touring cast would have opened years ago, and it would not so much tour as take up permanent residence in my hometown. So I obviously do not own Wicked._

**Frame**

Watching her sleep, the moonlight from the holes in the ceiling making her hair shine, Fiyero considered how lucky he was. Well, perhaps "lucky" was the wrong word; as dawn lit up the room, the frame widened, reminding him how small the loft really was and revealing more holes, little food, and even fewer possessions. This was not the castle of his childhood: his fraying clothes were not the trappings of a prince, the thin pallet was a far cry from silk sheets, and she was not the vapid, provincial wife he'd left at home. Still, when he noticed she'd awoken, and their sleepy eyes met, he knew it was everything he'd ever wanted.

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	98. Chapter 98: Ends

**A/N: I haven't gotten home before 8 PM any day this week, and I'm neurotically awaiting a college acceptance letter. I can't believe this thing actually got written (or that oboefae hasn't killed me from annoyance already).**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked, but I do own Wicked knowledge, which I gave to my friends' kids today. They now know the phrase "Defy Gravity," that the witch's name is Elphaba (or "Elbaba"), and that the witch's best friend is named Glinda. I'm so proud.**

"Glinda, come with me. Think of what we could do--together."

Glinda's mind reeled. Guards banged against the door, and at that second, she heard the sickening crunch of splintering wood. They were breaking through. Then, in what seemed like a completely different universe, her best friend, her other half, stood clutching an old, dilapidated broom and looking at her with pleading, passionate, desperate eyes.

"Think of it," Elphaba said softly. "We're unstoppable when we're together. We'd be _unlimited_. Please."

She ended in a whisper that was drowned out by another splintering thud. Glinda winced. Was she really being asked to make this choice _now_? There was just too much going on for her to think. But with every crash at the door, the deadline for decision grew nearer. So she didn't think--she just acted.

Her instincts failed her, though, and she never stopped hating herself for it.

**A/N: Review! And perhaps share your own stories of nerve-wracking college letter waits. They might help me to stop twitching.**


	99. Chapter 99: Control and Wanderlust

_A/N: So, um, separation is hard. Also, DefiGraviti gave me a word, and I immediately got a bunch of other ideas that had nothing to do with it. So, you get two drabbles for the price of one this time, and an extra chapter at the end. Enjoy._

_Disclaimer: I don't own Wicked._

**Control**

She watched her run away, clutching her broom and that stupid old hat, and suddenly, she couldn't be mad anymore. Anger meant accepting too simple a view of the situation, and if Elphaba had taught her anything, it was that nothing was as it initially appeared. Suddenly the commotion started again. She heard Fiyero's gun hit the ground and looked up to see him surrounded by the guards, scared but resigned, and everything finally clicked into place.

"In the name of goodness, stop!" she shouted at them. Their heads turned, and she ran over to them.

"He never meant to harm me," she said. "It's just," she took a deep breath, mustering all of her self control to keep from breaking down while the guards were watching. "He loves her."

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**Wanderlust**

"People used to wander, centuries and centuries ago," Dr. Dillamond said. Elphaba sighed. Today's discussion was supposed to feature a political map of Oz, but her classmates' blank stares had forced the professor to rethink the syllabus. Now, they were at the very beginning, and Elphaba, despite her best intentions, found her attention slipping.

_I wonder what it would be like to wander_, she mused. In addition to the thick tomes of history which had served to make today's lecture so boring, her father's shelves had been lined, oddly enough, with adventure stories. The young girl, so unsatisfied with her own home, had found hope and possibility in those stories, where smart men and, yes, the occasional woman, were completely unfettered, able to come and go without a moment's notice, and beholden to no one. More recently, those dreams had been rekindled by the arrival of the Vinkun prince, who told tales of moonlit nights on the plains and hunting trips through dangerous mountains. The Vinkus was a frontier, a promise of quiet and solitude that Elphaba had previously thought existed only in fiction. _Someday_, she thought, _I'll have the chance to explore on my own, and it will be wonderful._

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	100. Chapter 100: Rules and Journey

**A/N: Here is your second double-dose chapter,and I've even got some humor to offset oboefae's angst. Don't worry, though; we're going to post a bonus co-op chapter, so this isn't the end. And we've got a surprise to share with you in the next chapter, too. Excited?**

**Disclaimer: Almost two years later, I **_**still**_** don't own Wicked. Darn.**

Rules

The morning after the party at the Ozdust, Galinda, humming, dug through her closet until she found her old guidebook to life, The Best Friends' Handbook. It was old and worn from years of devoted use, but it had been a long time since she had had reason to open it. She had a lot of brushing up to do.

_Rule #1: Best Friends must always have fun together and play with each other even when no one else will._

Thinking of their night of dancing, Galinda happily wrote a checkmark next to the first rule.

_Rule #2: Best Friends must give each other thoughtful gifts, even on days other than birthdays and Lurlinemas._

The hat! Galinda suddenly felt very proud of herself as she checked off the second rule.

_Rule # 3: Best Friends must always feel free to borrow each others' dresses._

Galinda bit her lip. Perhaps they would just skip that one.

* * *

Journey

Fiyero tore the paper out of the typewriter so quickly that it almost ripped in half. Then, shoving his feet into the boots that sat in a muddy lump by his bed, he flung the door open and sprinted out of his room. He took the stairs two at a time and leaped so enthusiastically over the cat that sat randomly on the fifth step that he forgot to land, his left knee slamming into the ground first as he went flying to the ground. No matter, though. He picked himself up and ran out of the dorm building.

Leaping over puddles and dodging casually-strolling people, he was followed by cat-calls of "Nice jammies, Fiyero!" and "Where were you this morning, Your Highness?" but he paid them no mind. Glancing at the clock tower, he saw that he had only two minutes and twelve seconds until the deadline, so he pushed even harder against the pain in his knee, even kicking his boots off in the grass when he started tripping over the laces. Exactly three seconds before it was to be locked, Fiyero threw the door open to Dillamond's classroom and desperately thrust his midterm paper in his direction, gasping for breath.

The old Goat was puzzled. "Um, thank you, Fiyero," Dr. Dillamond said, tentatively taking the paper, "but the midterm isn't due until tomorrow."

**A/N: The final chapter will be up soon. It's the end of an era. But we still want you to review.**


	101. Chapter 101: Forever and Insides

**_A/N: Oh noes, the last drabbles! Here they are, Forever by oboefae and Insides by DefiGraviti. Stay tuned to be let in on a sekrit at the bottom!_**

**_Disclaimer: We do not own Wicked, but we've really enjoyed borrowing it and wish we didn't have to give it back_**

**Forever**

"I hate ceremonies," Elphaba muttered to her sister after their visitor walked away. "You know those people are only here to brown-nose father and catch a glimpse of us."

Nessa nodded. At ten years old, she didn't quite understand all of the politics that went on at a simple ball, but life with Elphaba was often easier if you just agreed with her, and she _had_ noticed the way the Munchkins stared at them.

Still, though, she couldn't hate her father's ceremonies quite as much as her sister did. They were _events_, and they helped break up her otherwise uneventful life. And this was her favorite event of all, the annual Governor's Ball. All around her, stylish men danced with beautiful women, and she watched them hungrily. She longed to have that experience, just once, the proffered hand, the ready smile, and the few moments of absolute grace. She didn't know how it would ever work, but Nessa vowed then and there that if any man ever gave her that opportunity, she would love him forever.

* * *

**Insides**

Elphaba stared at the barely-visible square in the floor only briefly before Dorothy appeared at the top of the stairs. From there, she stood and watched almost impatiently as the inevitable unfolded before her. Tension made her jaw ache and anxiety knotted within her stomach, but finally she felt the gush of a waterfall over her head and the collapse of the floor under her feet.

It was like a cave. The thick wood muffled all sound and light of the chaos above her so that she was left with a dark, silent, and--dare she even say it?--peaceful world that was all her own. Despite the circumstances, she couldn't help but feel like she deserved this. She was just so tired.

So, for a short, wonderful moment, Elphaba pushed aside the haunting memory of Glinda's tear-stained face, closed her eyes, and rested.

_"And there the wicked old Witch stayed for a good long time."_

_"And did she ever come out?"_

_"Not yet."_

* * *

**_A/N: Thank you all for the reviews and the patience. You've made us better writers and brightened our days. Also..._**

**_We never realized how much we would miss this project until we were writing our last drabbles, but thankfully, this isn't the end of of our shared writing adventure. We're working on a new Wicked fic, this one an actual story, which will debut sometime in April._**

**_Finally, we would like to thank all of our loyal reviewers. We would love to thank everyone specifically, but we just don't have the space. Thank you to phantomphan1992, in particular, for your continuous support over the past two years. Also, thank you to the lurkers. We are very familiar with the absence of time to comment regularly, and we appreciate your reading. Last but most certainly not least, we would like to thank EtoileBrillant, daydreaming readhead, and Luna Riven for their unyielding support and friendship, on and off the site._**

**_As always, don't forget to review!_**

**_-DefiGraviti and oboefae_**


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